Second Chances: Azure Blue Moon Rewritten
by Starian NightZz
Summary: AU TimeTravel FemNaru. Namikaze Sayo never meant for this to happen. All she wanted to do was to kill the councilors responsible for her current plight. So why the hell is she stuck in the time of the shinobi clan wars, befriending a young Uchiha Madara?
1. The Horrible Truth

_Summary:_

_AU Time Travel FemNaru. Namikaze Sayo never meant for this to happen. All she wanted to do was to kill the councillors responsible for her current plight. So why the hell is she stuck in the time of the shinobi clan wars, befriending a young Uchiha Madara?_

_Old Summary:_

_AU Time Travel FemNaru. After the ninja villages were destroyed as a result of the war between the ninja nations and Akatsuki, Kami and Fate decided to give Namikaze Shiki one chance to fix things by sending her back to the time of the shinobi clan wars before the founding of any of the ninja villages, where by some strange twist of fate, she found herself befriending the teenaged First and Second Hokages as well as a young Uchiha Madara. Madara/Shiki_

As promised, this is the rewritten version of Azure Blue Moon, though I've renamed it as Second Chances: Azure Blue Moon Rewritten. Like the previous version, this is a time travel fic, though Sayo (female Naruto) will be travelling back to the time of the shinobi clan wars. And just a heads up though, this will be a slightly dark fic. And in case anyone is wondering, yes, this still is a Madara/Sayo.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter One: The Horrible Truth**

_Pitter. Patter. Pitter. Patter._

The rain did not seem to be letting up anytime soon, as it always is in the Hidden Village of the Rain, Amegakure no sato.

All around Namikaze Uzumaki Sayo, the sounds of battle could be heard, yet she is not bothered in the least, as her focus was just on one person – the self-proclaimed 'God' of the Akatsuki organisation. The criminal cloak wearing crime organisation which consisted of nine shinobis with twisted ideals for the world, and the lengths which they would go to achieve it.

Blood had already stained her hair in streaks, causing it to look more crimson than it already is. Her clothes were also almost in tatters. Yet Sayo wasn't bothered in the least.

She is currently facing the infamous Pein in battle, the killer of her teacher who had been like a father to her.

All around this rain soaked battlefield, the remaining five bodies of the Six Paths of Pein laid motionlessly, all of them missing at least one limb. Now all that remains is the actual man himself to be taken down.

Pein wasn't in the best state of health either, with broken limbs and his Akatsuki cloak in tatters. He gave a grunt as he launched an attack at where Sayo was, and his eyes widened slightly in shock as he only got the black hooded coat which his opponent had been wearing.

Sensing an influx of chakra behind him, Pein turned around too late only to see Namikaze Sayo lunging at him in mid-air with a compressed ball of the Odama Rasengan in her right hand, a look of anger and hatred in her cerulean blue eyes.

"It is over, Pein! This is for Jiraiya-sensei!"

Pein's eyes widened as he saw Sayo approaching, and he seemed as if planning some counterattack before a small smile graced his face, and he let his arms fell down by his side. Sayo's eyes narrowed together, and not a moment later, the Odama Rasengan was launched into his gut.

There was silence for several moments as the palm of Sayo's right hand was pressed against Pein's lower abdomen which she had sent the Rasengan into, and neither party moved for several moments. Finally, Pein coughed out some crimson blood, and let his arms fell down by his sides.

"This…is the end…"

"Why?" Sayo looked up, being nearly two and a half heads shorter than the leader of the Akatsuki. "Why didn't you avoid my attack? Did you take me for an idiot? Answer me, Pein!"

"I…never intended to kill you…" Pein coughed, and Sayo's eyes widened. "If I…had really wanted you dead…then don't you think that I would have finished you off back then when we were forcefully extracting Kyuubi from you? I didn't let you die, as I had been pumping every inch of my chakra into your body in order to keep you alive."

Sayo's eyes widened.

Nearly five months ago, the Akatsuki had gotten their hands on her – the last remaining Jinchuuriki, and they have forcefully extracted the Kyuubi from her. Because Sayo was unconscious at that time, it wasn't too difficult to remove the king of the bijuus from her. And until today, Sayo was still wondering how she is still alive, as she knew that all Jinchuurikis die if they have their inner beasts removed from them. Gaara is the only prime exception, as he had the Sand elder Chiyo resurrect him by using her jutsu.

"Why…?" Sayo muttered. "Why did you go to such lengths to…protect me…protect us? Why?"

Pein coughed out some blood once more, and a small smile tilted at the ends of his lips. "Because…I owe it to my sister. Because I owe it to you for not having been there to protect you. After all…it wouldn't do…to kill my own niece, would I?"

Sayo's eyes widened. Niece?

And now that she looked closely, there is quite a resemblance between him and her late mother after all.

Pein managed a small smile before resting his shaking right hand atop her head. "I will release the seal on you…the one that held back the…legendary Rinnegan… The one…that the Sandaime Hokage…had placed on you…"

"What?"

But Sayo didn't have enough time to ask any further, as a myriad of visions immediately began flooding her head.

"_I object! Why should you seal the Rinnegan away?! That will probably be the only thing that can save this child's life!"_

"_Exactly. If she ever knew that she possesses such a legendary doujutsu like the Rinnegan, if she ever snaps and turn against the village someday, it'll be the end of us. No one must ever know about her bloodline. Not Tsunade. Not Jiraiya. No one. I can't let her uncle get her hands on her as well. It is Minato's last wish that she be brought up in Konoha."_

Sayo's eyes brimmed with tears threatening to fall. The Sandaime…he is the one that did this to her? He is responsible for all the suffering that she went through in Konoha when she still had a living relation somewhere who could have taken her away from there?

Why? WHY?! _WHY???!!!_

"Uncle…" Sayo didn't even realise that she had spoken, and Pein smiled a small sincere smile.

"Uncle, huh?" Pein uttered, coughing out crimson blood. "That…should be enough for me, I guess. Now you are really…the last surviving bearer of the legendary…Rinnegan doujutsu… If you are a ninja, you have to make some very difficult choices sometimes. Like…your friend…"

With that, Pein, also known as Uzumaki Nagato, died.

**XXXXXX**

_Clang. Clang. Clang._

Uchiha Sasuke turned around amidst the light sounds of metal on metal throughout the battlefield as the aura of a barely restrained chakra reached his senses. A slight smirk pulled at the sides of his lips as he saw his best friend approaching him, and he frowned when he saw the tears falling from her eyes.

Namikaze Sayo is never one to cry.

She never lets anyone see her cry.

So why?

"This is it, right?" Sasuke voiced out as the two best friends stood barely five metres apart from each other.

"Why?" Sayo asked. "Why must you make me do something like this?! You know that I never want to fight you! Why must you make me fight you in a fight to the death?!"

Sasuke's lips tilted slightly. "I wanted to be certain of something," he stated. "I can see why he doesn't want you to know about the true nature of his mission."

"What are you saying now?" Sayo asked, barely restrained fury in her voice. "What are you up to now? How many secrets are you hiding from me? Just what aren't you telling me??!!!"

Her voice echoed throughout the battlefield. Sasuke closed his eyes briefly. He _really_ didn't want to do this as much as Sayo wanted to. No matter what his brother had wanted, he can't obey this wish of his. Sayo deserves to know the truth. And know it she will, if she can bring herself to kill him.

Sasuke opened his eyes to reveal the spinning Eternal Mangekyou eyes.

Sayo narrowed her eyes upon seeing those eyes, and her heart almost plummeted down to her feet. "Those eyes…it can't be… Sasuke, you…!"

Sasuke smiled sadly before drawing out his sword. "One last battle," he stated. "Let's end this here."

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato  
Fire Country_

The raindrops pattered against the windows in a steady rhythm.

Senju Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha looked out of the window in a slight daze, not really seeing anything at all, looking towards the direction of Amegakure no sato, the pen in her hand just a few inches short of touching the paper that she is supposed to be signing.

"Tsunade-sama?"

The soft voice of her apprentice shook Tsunade back to reality, and she turned around.

"Shizune?"

"What's wrong?" asked Shizune with concern, placing a cup of cooling tea on the desk.

"Nothing."

Shizune eyed Tsunade with a knowing look before sighing. "Is it about Sayo-chan?" she asked, and at the slight flinch that Tsunade gave at the sound of that name, Shizune knew that she had hit the nail on the head. "She wanted to go, Tsunade-sama. You can't stop her, and you know that."

"I know. It's just…" Tsunade chewed on her bottom lip nervously. She then placed her pen down onto the desk and looked up at her apprentice and most trusted friend. "Is it selfish of me? For wanting to keep her in the village?"

Shizune said nothing. She still remembered the argument that one of the most promising jounins had with the Godaime Hokage, and how the fifteen-year-old jounin had managed to get permission to enter the land of Rain in order to take down the Akatsuki by herself.

"_No."_

"_Even if you said so, I'm still going. All my training…it has been for this day."_

"_I won't let you go, Sayo. I can't let you go and seek your death!"_

"_Even if you tie me down and lock me up, I'll still go to Amegakure. Jiraiya-sensei's last message is for me. That must mean that he must want me to be the one to defeat Pein and Akatsuki by myself. I'll avenge my sensei's death!"_

"_Sayo, I can't let you go! I've already lost Jiraiya. I can't lose another one of my loved ones! I won't let you fall to the curse of that necklace!"_

"_I'll still go."_

"She wanted to go," said Shizune quietly. "You know that there's nothing that you can do to stop her. She is stubborn."

Tsunade sighed. "I know that. Ever since training under Fukasaku-sama, she refuses to listen to anyone else. She's just like her mother."

Shizune smiled. "I'll take your word for that."

Tsunade looked out of the window at the endless rain, her right hand going to the spot where her grandfather's necklace used to be, her hand shaking slightly. She can't help but have a very bad feeling about this. She still remembered when she, Shizune and Sakura have seen Sayo, Neji and Shikamaru off at the gates – with Tsunade making this a top-secret mission known only to the Godaime and her apprentices to prevent the council from marking the three as nuke-nins.

"_Be careful, Sayo."_

"_I always am, Sakura."_

"_Be sure to come back alive."_

"_Troublesome. We'll watch over her, Sakura, so that she doesn't do anything stupid."_

"_Sayo, be sure to come back alive."_

"_Let's make a bet then, Tsunade-baa-chan."_

"_A bet?"_

"_Yeah. You'll bet that I won't come back. After all, you always lose your bets."_

Tsunade bit down on her lower lip. Jiraiya had said the same thing to her before he had set off for Amegakure on a reconnaissance mission about Akatsuki, and he had never came back. Now Sayo is saying the same thing that her teacher did months ago. Is this déjà vu or something?

"Be sure to come back to me, Sayo," she whispered.

**XXXXXX**

The light cackling blue lightning chakra of the Chidori cackled and slowly dispersed as a hand grabbed the wrist that Sasuke was using to form the Chidori.

Startled, the dark-haired Uchiha glanced down only to see Sayo kneeling before him, her right wrist grabbing hold of the wrist of his right hand – the hand that he used to form the Chidori. His best friend was glaring at him with those sky blue eyes of hers that always reminded him of the sky, only that those eyes were swirling and twirling before a ripple pattern formed on those blue eyes.

Sasuke frowned. _'A doujutsu? Sayo had never mentioned that she had a bloodline.'_

"This is the end, Sasuke."

_If you are a ninja, you have to make some very difficult choices sometimes._

_Be sure to come back alive, Sayo._

_Jiraiya-sama is very proud of you. He thought of you as his own grandchild, and had never failed to boast about you to all the other Jounins of Konoha. I am sure that he is now watching over you from somewhere._

_When you head to Amegakure with Neji and Shikamaru, Sayo, if you can, take out Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura knows this too, but I think that it's best if she do not go on this mission with you. She had never killed anyone during her ninja career before, unlike you. Even that time with Sasori, it was the Sand elder Chiyo who had killed him._

Sayo ran her sword through Sasuke's chest as she straightened up.

There was silence for several moments before a very weak smile formed on Sasuke's face. He coughed out some blood. "It…is the end," he rasped before falling to the ground. "So this is it."

Sayo knelt down by Sasuke's side. "Why?" she asked. "Even after killing your own brother, why would you still continue fighting us? Answer me, Sasuke. You never do things without a reason. I know that you had a good reason for this. Tell me why."

Sasuke smiled weakly. "I guess…that you must know…why too. Itachi…told me everything… What you had represented to him…and what he is to you… At the very least…I want someone…to know what Itachi has sacrificed for the village…and what he had suffered… At the very least…I want you to know the truth…"

**

* * *

**"This is the end," said Shikamaru, panting lightly as Zetsu crumpled over in front of them, dead. "At last. How's Sayo doing?"

Neji who had activated his Byakugan was looking towards the western side. "She seems to be fine," he said, deactivating his Byakugan. "She's with Sasuke."

Right on cue, hordes of Ame-nins appeared around them, and Shikamaru almost groaned, muttering, "Troublesome," beneath his breath.

Neji sighed. "Let's clean up here, and go help her," he said, activating his Byakugan once more.

**

* * *

**"No… It can't be true…"

Sayo stared unblinkingly at Sasuke.

Sasuke managed a weak smile. "That's what I thought when Madara had first told me about Itachi," he coughed. "But it's the truth. Itachi told me once that he is responsible for guarding you when you were a child. I know…how fond of Itachi…you are. I also know that you thought of him as your own brother. That's why…I never told you this. That's why the council and the village kept this from you. If you knew this, there's no telling what you might do."

"Itachi-nii…was…?" Sayo muttered. "It can't be…!"

Smiling weakly, Sasuke brought both his hands together and began slowly forming a series of unfamiliar handseals – a number of which Sayo recognised as seals associated with that of forbidden techniques.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"Itachi…gave me his final gift…and his last hope…" Sasuke choked out, with blood flowing from the sides of his lips. "During my time…spent with Orochimaru…I picked up a number of…forbidden jutsus. This…is one of them… To transfer…a bloodline to another vessel… With this…the Uchiha bloodline would not…die out. The eyes that my brother gave me…the eyes that I shall now give you…the Eternal Mangekyou… I'll be your eyes from now on…we shall be together forever and ever."

As Sasuke ended the final handseal, there was an influx of chakra, and Sayo felt a sharp pain in both her eyes, and bit down on her lip to resist the pain. Almost as soon as it had started, the pain soon faded away, leaving behind only a dull ache.

Sayo's eyes then widened a slight fraction when she caught sight of her reflection in one of the rain puddles by her foot. The ripple pattern of the Rinnegan was still visible, but the tri pinwheel of the Eternal Mangekyou was also visible, and the colour of her eyes seemed to be that of a mix between blue and red.

Namikaze Sayo had achieved something which no one had ever thought possible: she had attained two doujutsus at the same time.

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato  
Fire Country_

The two chuunin guards at the entrance of Konohagakure no sato brightened up when they saw Namikaze Sayo, Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru approaching them, all three with some sort of visible injury on their bodies.

"Welcome back," said Hagane Kotetsu with a beam. "You should go and see Godaime-sama, and to show her that you're alright."

Sayo who had been extremely silent the entire way back to the Fire Country turned towards Neji and Shikamaru. "Go back to your homes and rest. I'll take care of the report for the Godaime."

Neji nodded, never happier to actually hear the word 'rest', as this mission had been extremely taxing on him. As for Shikamaru, even though he is extremely drained of energy, he was a little suspicious of Sayo's sudden silence, though he attributed it to Uchiha Sasuke's death at her hands.

The three ninjas then parted ways – with Neji and Shikamaru headed towards their homes, and Sayo headed towards the opposite direction.

Yet if her two teammates have been with her, they would have noticed that whilst Namikaze Sayo had headed towards the Hokage Tower, the redhead headed towards the direction where the council chambers were located – the place where the council had held their meetings.

And with that, the fate of Konoha's council was then sealed.

**

* * *

**The council of Konoha were having their usual monthly meeting with the Godaime Hokage as always, though the mind of the Hokage's seemed to be elsewhere. One of the civilians was once again asking for the removal of one Namikaze Sayo, when there was a sudden loud explosion somewhere, and the doors of the council chambers were then blown apart.

The force of that impact caused the two ANBUs standing guard to be rendered unconscious. And when the smoke had cleared away, everyone could see the visage of one Namikaze Sayo standing there with an impassive look on her face, the standard ANBU issued blade clenched in her left hand.

"Sayo!" Tsunade stood up from her seat, both hands onto the table. "What is the meaning of this?"

Sayo said nothing, but merely shifted the blade in her hand, never taking her eyes off of the two council elders and Shimura Danzo.

"This is a closed council session," said Koharu strictly. "Anything that you wished to speak to us about can wait until then."

Sayo still said nothing, but Tsunade who was watching the redhead had her eyes widening in horror as Sayo's sky blue eyes before changing into a red-blue colour before a ripple pattern formed on her irises, with a tri pinwheel in the middle of her eyes.

'_A doujutsu?'_

"Blood can only be washed away by blood." Sayo stated monotonely. "You three fucktards took Itachi-nii away from me!" The faces of the three elders paled considerably. How the hell did she find out about it? "He's the only one who is keeping me sane in this hellhole that you call a village, and preventing me from releasing the Kyuubi!"

"Hellhole?" One very brave, or very stupid civilian had to speak. "Isn't it your dream to be Hokage?"

"Hokage?" Sayo let out a short bark which almost sounds like a laugh. "Don't make me laugh. That was all part of the 'act' that I kept up to keep me safe from you fucktards, and to keep my sanity in this pathetic excuse of a village! Akatsuki is gone. And so is Sasuke. Now that only leaves only one thing for me to do."

Almost all council members passed out on the spot as an extremely high concentrated bout of killer intent and chakra rose to almost unbearable levels, causing numerous cracks on the walls and ceiling, the majority of it being concentrated on the three council elders.

And it is probably due to the wild untamed chakra, as a dimensional rip appeared beneath Sayo's feet just then.

It is a fact unknown to most, but the abilities that the Eternal Mangekyou that a person gets varies from person to person. And one of Sayo's Mangekyou abilities had been revealed at that very moment, when she is letting her emotions get the better of her, and her chakra is quite untamed right now.

A bright light occurred in the council chambers just then, along with the rise of chakra, and when both light and chakra faded away, and Tsunade looked up from whatever is left of the council chambers, Namikaze Sayo was gone.

* * *

_A/N: How is this rewritten version? Is it too rushed or something? Next chapter will be the introduction of the Uchiha brothers. And just in case you are wondering, Sayo is fifteen in this story, and so is Madara when he finally appears. I hadn't gotten too far with the anime as of yet, so I'm not sure how Madara manages to retain his youthful appearance, but I'm assuming that it has to do with the Eternal Mangekyou of his._

_In this story, an Uchiha who had attained the Eternal Mangekyou can't die unless someone takes his head off or tried to end his life or something. But they can only live eternally if they had __**mastered **__the Eternal Mangekyou. Thus, Sayo and Madara haven't attained that level yet._

_I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_


	2. Who Am I?

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Two: Who Am I?**

_Dimensional travelling is by far, one of the most difficult feats to perform, and also counted among one of the most impossible. Yet Namikaze Sayo had managed something that no one had ever managed before: by travelling back in time via a dimensional rip, thanks to the abilities of her Eternal Mangekyou – the final gift given to her by her best friend, which in turn, was given to him by his beloved elder brother._

_However, no matter who it is, whether it be a mere mortal or a God, travelling back in time requires a price to be paid. Humankind cannot gain something without giving up something in exchange. And in order for Namikaze Sayo to travel safely through the dimensional rips which she had created unconsciously in her rage and sorrow, Fate has taken something from her as the price for dimensional travelling…permanently._

_She took from Namikaze Sayo her identity as the daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. In order for her to live and survive like any other in the timeline that Namikaze Sayo had unconsciously sent herself to, Namikaze Sayo has to 'die' in order to forge a new identity. Especially since the same soul cannot exist in the same plane where her counterpart is, or will be in sometime in the near future._

_And thus, Namikaze Sayo will never exist again in the dimension that she had gone to._

**XXXXXX**

Falling…

Falling…

Sayo felt herself falling through what seemed to be an endless abyss, almost like she is falling through air, with no bottom in wherever she is right now. She compared this to the time when she had actually gone underwater in the lake for several minutes just for the fun of it, with darkness all around her, with the only light that could be seen above her, shining like the reflection off the water of a lake of some sort.

_I…hate Konoha._

_Whenever someone mentions Konoha, 'Hell' comes to mind. Konoha is my personal Hell, a place where I'd been trapped by nothing but family ties and a sacrifice that someone made on my behalf, and where I had no right to even leave the village._

_Even the Sandaime Hokage…the only person apart from Iruka-sensei whom I had thought cared deeply for me is nothing but a sham! He knew that my only living relation – my uncle, is still alive, yet he kept him from me. All because of the fact that he feared what I may do if I ever regain my memories and found out that I had such a legendary doujutsu like the Rinnegan which I'd accidentally activated when I was five after a mob had attacked, and when I had killed them all by mistake._

_That explains everything._

_Why I can't remember anything of that night as the Third had sealed my memories of me ever activating the Rinnegan._

_And why I was never allowed to leave the village apart from missions out of the village. _

_And why the council had always kept such a tight leash on me, the council elders – Homura, Koharu and Danzo especially._

_Itachi-nii was the only one that is different._

_He is the only one who looked at me and doesn't see a demon, but merely a human child. He taught me all the necessities of life, and even how to read and write. He is my only friend, my brother, my guardian, my hope in this darkness._

_But then the Uchiha massacre happened, and Itachi-nii disappeared._

_The Sandaime refused to tell me anything that had happened that night, only that Uchiha Itachi is now an S-class missing-nin, to be killed on sight._

_I do not believe that for one instant._

_I will not believe that Itachi-nii will do something like that for no reason at all._

_More than anyone, he __**loves **__the village and his family. His loyalty to the village as a Leaf-nin and an ANBU is beyond anything that anyone had ever managed._

_I wanted to know the truth._

_That is why I had joined the Ninja Academy of Konoha in order to become a ninja._

_Seven years of searching…and in the end, it all comes down to the village?_

_They ordered him to do such an atrocious thing, to kill his own family and clan by his own two hands. Forcing him away from the village to live as a missing-nin? You've gotta be joking! Why Itachi-nii? Why couldn't they send someone else? Someone who doesn't have to sacrifice as much as Itachi-nii has to just to complete his mission?_

_The village. The village. The village._

_Everything is for this damn village._

_It is for this damn village when that coward and idiot of a father of mine gave up his life and __**my**__ life and future just to seal the Kyuubi, the king of the demons, into my gut just to prevent the village from being trampled._

_It is for this damn village that the Sandaime Hokage kept my uncle from me, and even kept my heritage from me._

_It is for this damn village when the only one that even look at me as a human and not a demon was forced away just to fulfil his duty as a Leaf-nin._

_It is for this damn village when my best friend had left, being classified as a traitor just because the village and the council doesn't have the brains to tell him the entire reason behind the Uchiha massacre and why his brother had done such a thing._

_It is for this damn village when the one like an older brother to me had died at the hands of my best friend, and he had found out too late that his older brother had done everything that he did just to protect him._

_It is for this village…_

_Everything is for this damn village!_

_If I had it my way…if I had it my way, I would rather that Konoha had never existed!_

**XXXXXX**

_Akatsuki's Hideout  
Amegakure no sato_

Konan flinched visibly as the memories of her clone came back to her – of when that Hyuuga and that Nara from the village of Konoha had 'killed' her clone, mistaking it as the real person. Konan still couldn't get over how the blood clone could resemble a real person – with the chakra circulatory system, heartbeat, blood and everything.

One of her origami butterflies came back to her and 'melded' into her body just then, giving her the memories of that battle that she had one of her origami butterflies spying of the battle between Pein and Namikaze Sayo.

Konan closed her eyes in grief. Now with her childhood friend gone, she is truly the last remaining member of the Akatsuki.

She is truly all alone now.

"Nagato…" she muttered, using the name that her best friend hadn't used for over a decade. "So you've done it at last. Sayo-chan…"

_Konan watched as the sealing statue sucked in the last of the Kyuubi's chakra. For certain reasons, only Pein and herself were the only ones doing the sealing of the king of the bijuus, and thus, it had taken them over a week to finish the sealing._

_And it also helped matters that the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi had been unconscious and extremely low on her own chakra during the sealing process._

_As the last of the Kyuubi's chakra was sucked into the sealing statue, the chakra onslaught illuminating around Namikaze Sayo's body faded away. But before the redhead could even hit the ground, Pein swooped down to the ground and caught the body of the redhead in his arms, an unreadable expression in his normally expressionless eyes._

_Pein glanced up at Konan and gave her a brief nod before shunshining away._

Konan opened her eyes before getting to her feet, her decision made at last.

Her body then exploded into hundreds of origami butterflies.

**XXXXXX**

The sound of birds chirping, water flowing, and the leaves rustling in the wind were the only sounds that could be heard in this massive forest as a severely injured redhead stumbled through the forest, the severity of the injuries on her body obvious to even the most oblivious person.

She can't remember anything.

Nothing at all.

Where is she?

What is this place?

And more importantly…

_Who is she?_

Her vision blurred suddenly before she shook her head, trying to clear her vision. And when her vision cleared once more, she saw two stunned black-haired teens around the age of sixteen or seventeen standing in front of her.

The two looked very similar, and she assumed for them to be brothers.

The older looking one had on a black battle kimono with a black fishnet shirt worn beneath it, with a sword strapped on his back, a red and white fan symbol stitched on the right arm sleeve of his battle kimono. The younger looking one was dressed in a similar fashion, only that he wore dark blue instead, and he had a cheeky look to him, as much opposed to his companion's serious demeanour.

And both teens looked absolutely stunned and shocked, if the bulging eyes complete with gaping mouths looks on their faces were anything to go by.

The older one spoke first, taking one step forwards, one hand on the hilt of his sword on his back, with his brother tugging onto the hem of his kimono nervously, but the older one took no notice, not taking his eyes off of her, his eyes bleeding into a blood-red colour with three black commas in each eye, a frown on his face.

But the redhead didn't notice. She was too busy with trying to keep herself from passing out on the spot.

"Who are you?" asked the older looking teen with a frown.

It was like asking that simple question was the trigger for that explosion to occur in her head immediately – almost like someone had just clubbed her over the head with a club of some sort, causing her to see several stars, and also for her vision to blur and darken.

Then without any warning, she went down.

She felt herself falling forwards, about to connect to the grassy ground of the forest that she is in, but she never managed to touch the ground as she felt a powerful pair of arms wrap itself around her body, saving her from a hard knock to the ground.

There was a sudden shift as she heard voices speaking somewhere above her, but she couldn't hear them properly. She cracked her eyes opened only to see the faces of the two from earlier above her, concern etched on their features, before her eyelids shut itself.

Before she could totally lose herself to unconsciousness however, she felt an arm lifting her at the waist whilst another arm slithered beneath her knees, and she was then off the ground, her head resting against a chest.

But she no longer took any notice of it, as she had long lost herself to unconsciousness.

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato  
Fire Country_

"I don't believe you," said Haruno Sakura firmly, grinding one fist into the Hokage's desk, creating quite a dent there, with Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji on either side of her. "I won't believe it. I know Sayo better than anyone else! She is my old teammate! I _know_ her! She is not one to do something like this!"

After that disastrous council meeting which had just ended six hours ago in which Tsunade and the ANBUs have been busy sending the injured council members to the hospital, in which Danzo, Koharu and Homura have died, the Godaime Hokage had sent for Sakura, Shikamaru and Neji, as the three were the ones who knew Sayo best.

During recent months, Sayo had pulled back from everyone else, including Iruka, after Jiraiya had died, pushing herself to her limits during training until she had passed out. It is Sakura, Shikamaru and Neji who have always been there for her during the grieving months when Sayo had thrown herself into training without any care for her own personal well-being just to avenge her deceased sensei.

It is beyond chaotic when the entire council chamber had fallen down around the ears of the council members. And yet miraculously, the only ones who have perished are Danzo, Koharu and Homura. Even the number of ANBU guards guarding the hallway that led to the council chamber were only found knocked out.

Personally, Tsunade was relieved that those three thorns in her side were already dead, as they caused so much trouble for her during those few projects that she had wanted passed through, particularly the one about a medic-nin being in a ninja squad to reduce fatalities on missions.

But still, the blonde Hokage was concerned.

Sayo had vanished after the entire council chamber had fallen down around their ears, and no one could find her. And thus, Tsunade had called in Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru, ignoring the Nara's complaints that he was enjoying some sleep in his nice warm bed.

And thus, the three young jounins were currently standing in front of Tsunade before the Hokage's desk at three in the morning, staring at the Godaime Hokage like she had just grown two new heads.

"Hokage-sama, if this is a joke, it is not very funny," said Neji politely, but his voice was strained.

Tsunade sighed. She can understand why the three young jounins wouldn't believe her. Sayo _is_ their best friend after all. "Unfortunately, this is _not_ a joke, despite how much I wished for it to be one," she said, rubbing her temples to ease her headache. "Sayo crashed into the council meeting a few hours ago, caused quite a scene, killed the three council elders on the spot, and even brought the entire council chambers crashing down around our ears. ANBUs are still assessing the damage done. And miraculously, aside from the three council elders, no one had died, apart from a few minor injuries to their person."

Sakura, Shikamaru and Neji exchanged concerned looks.

More than anyone else apart from Jiraiya, they knew what Sayo is capable of. If that girl merely wants to disarm someone without killing them, she can do it with no problem. Something like what Tsunade had just described…Sayo is the only one who can do something like this.

Shikamaru sighed. "I thought that something was up with her after that mission," he said. "I didn't imagine that she'll do something like this though. I just thought that she was upset because Sasuke had died at her hands."

"But why?" asked Neji, confusion etched on his features. "Why did she do something like this? I know Sayo. All of us here do. She is not one who will do something like this without a very good reason!"

Sakura and Shikamaru nodded, both agreeing with Neji.

Tsunade sighed. "I have no idea," she admitted. "She said something about Uchiha Itachi before disappearing. My guess is that it had something to do with him and Sasuke."

"Uchiha Itachi?" Sakura echoed with a raised brow. "Does Sayo know him well or something? I thought that the first time that she'd seen him is when he was sent to kidnap Sayo three years ago with Hoshigaki Kisame?"

"That's what I had assumed as well," said Tsunade gravely. "But it definitely seems like she knew Itachi beforehand. But another thing bothers me." Tsunade frowned, lacing her fingers together before her mouth. "I had no idea that Sayo had a bloodline, but she did. She had a doujutsu. And it looked _just _like the Rinnegan of legends!"

The three young jounins in the room blinked owlishly at that sentence.

"Say _what?"_

"But how?" Shikamaru gaped, losing his composure for the first time in his life. "The Rinnegan of legends… The only known user of it is that Akatsuki fellow from Amegakure, isn't it? How could Sayo use it? She had never even mentioned that she had a bloodline! All of us knew that the Yondaime's family doesn't possess a bloodline!"

"The answer to that," said a soft female voice which caused all four occupants in the room to turn around only to see a group of origami butterflies form into a human form – the blue haired woman of the Akatsuki organisation. "I can tell you why."

"Akatsuki!" Sakura hissed, readying a kunai, whilst both Shikamaru and Neji took up defensive stances in front of the Hokage's desk. "How did you get past the guards?"

"You…! Didn't we kill you at Ame?" Neji demanded. "How did you survive?"

"That was a clone," said Konan calmly. "Put down your weapons. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk."

"Lay down your weapons, all three of you," said Tsunade briskly, and the three jounins turned towards the blonde Hokage with surprised looks. "It's alright. She means no harm." The three jounins then nodded before withdrawing their weapons, but still placed themselves between the Hokage and Konan. "Konan, is it? It's been a long time since I've last seen you. You've grown. What brings you here?"

"To give you answers to your question," said Konan curtly. "I can tell you why Namikaze Sayo had the Rinnegan of legends—"

"H-How did you find out about Sayo's parentage?" Sakura asked, horrified.

As far as she knew, only she, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Neji, Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya knew about Sayo's parentage, as Tsunade had been waiting until the threat with the Akatsuki is over before announcing Sayo's parentage to the rest of the village.

Konan ignored Sakura and continued speaking as if the pink-haired girl hadn't spoken at all. "I can tell you why Namikaze Sayo had the Rinnegan of legends, when the last known bearer of it is Pein, also known as Nagato," she said. Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Pein told me everything about Namikaze Sayo, and his own background and parentage." Konan's lips trembled. "Because Uzumaki Kushina was his elder sister!" Tsunade's eyes widened in shock. "That's right. Uzumaki Nagato is the younger brother of the wife of your Yondaime Hokage. Uzumaki Nagato is the uncle of Namikaze Sayo."

**XXXXXX**

"What did you boys do to this poor girl?" The head medic of the Uchiha clan who is a woman in her forties demanded grumpily as she faced the two sons of the current Uchiha clan head whilst her two assistants were tending to said girl behind some curtains in the infirmary of the Uchiha clan settlement. "Even if it is a sparring match, you didn't have to take it that far!"

"Like I'm saying, Yuki-san, we didn't do that to the girl!" Uchiha Izuna, the younger of the two Uchiha brothers at the age of sixteen tried yet again to explain to the grumpy medic who had been like a mother to both him and his brother who have lost their mother at a very young age. "She is already in that condition when we have found her."

Before the medic can say anything else, there was a knock on the door of the infirmary just then, and a very pretty black haired Uchiha female about the age of sixteen peeked in. Her hair cascaded down to her shoulders, and she was dressed in a dark green battle kimono with the patterns of white maple leaves on it, a black ninja netted shirt worn beneath it.

Izuna's face brightened up when he saw his fiancée. "Seina!"

Uchiha Seina who had grown up together with the two sons of the Uchiha clan head, thus becoming the envy of every female in the clan everywhere smiled at her childhood friend slash fiancé. "Sorry to bother you, Izuna, Madara. But Hideki-sama wanted to see you both," she explained. "I was sent to get you. Something about that girl whom you had both brought back, as I do believe every single person in the clan had seen you bringing that girl to the infirmary."

Yuki muttered something beneath her breath before pulling on a pair of disposable gloves onto her hands. "Well, get going, you two," she said grumpily. "You'd best not keep the clan head waiting. I'll tend to the girl myself."

"Thanks, Yuki-san," said Izuna, inclining his head to the medic before tugging onto his brother's sleeve. "Let's go, nii-san."

Uchiha Madara hadn't said a single word ever since bringing the girl to the infirmary of his clan settlement.

He is _very_ _sure_ that his eyes aren't playing tricks on him back in the Sun Forest, and that he hadn't seen wrong, especially since his brother had been there with him at that time, and he had his Sharingan active as well, thus, it couldn't be a genjutsu.

If so, then how in kami-sama's name did that girl have BOTH the Eternal Mangekyou which is the ultimate stage of the Sharingan that every Uchiha had dreamed of attaining, _and _the Rinnegan of legends?

**

* * *

**Madara soon found himself kneeling before his father in the seiza position with his brother and Seina on either side of him, whilst his father, Uchiha Hideki, smoked from a pipe. Madara's father, Uchiha Hideki, was the head of the clan, and one of the most powerful leaders in the history of the Uchiha clan, even managing to beat the leader of their rival clan, the Senju clan of the Forest, multiple times.

Uchiha Hideki was a powerful looking man, and he gave off an air of intimidation, though there are already streaks of gray in his hair – indicating that he is getting on in years, and both Madara and his brother knew that their father wanted to pass on his mantle to either one of them soon.

"Madara, what is this that I hear from some of our clan members about both you and Izuna bringing back some stranger to the clan settlement when you have both gone for your usual sparring sessions in the Sun Forest?" asked Uchiha Hideki, fixing his elder son with a penetrating gaze.

To his credit, Madara didn't flinch but looked back at his father in the eye. "Well, we couldn't just leave her alone in the forest with the severity of her injuries, could we?" he stated. "Besides, I doubt that she is as much a stranger as we are to you, Father."

Hideki raised an eyebrow at his son's strange phrasing of words. "What do you mean?" he asked, perplexed. "Explain yourself."

Madara and Izuna exchanged nervous looks before the younger one coughed and turned back to his father, with Seina looking on with interest. "Well…Father…you see… That girl…she…well…she can use the Sharingan."

Seina gasped, and Hideki's eyes widened, his pipe halfway to his mouth as his brain digested what Izuna had just said.

"SAY WHAT?"

"Izuna, are you certain?" asked Seina with concern. "She can use the Sharingan?"

Izuna nodded. "But her Sharingan isn't a normal one," he said.

Hideki frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Father, she possesses the Eternal Mangekyou of our clan," said Madara, and Hideki's eyes widened, and his pipe came close to falling out of his hand.

The Eternal Mangekyou, the ultimate stage of the Sharingan which every Uchiha had dreamt of attaining. Even his own sons, Madara and Izuna, have only managed to attain the Mangekyou Sharingan by experiencing the pain of losing one of their best friends awhile back during a battle with the Senju clan some time back.

"And that's not all," said Madara, exchanging looks with Izuna before turning back to his father. "She had the Rinnegan of legend too." Hideki almost choked on his pipe. "The legendary doujutsu of myths, the father of the three doujutsus, said to be descended from the Rikudo Sennin. She had that. Her Sharingan is like a mix between the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. I didn't even think that the mixing of two doujutsus is possible!"

Silence.

"Since it's you, Madara, I doubt that you will lie," said Hideki at last. "But who is she? I didn't even realise that there is an Uchiha born outside of the clan. Seina, get Yuki to run a blood test."

"I already had Yuki-san do that for me earlier when we've brought her in," said Madara, interrupting his father. "She does indeed carry Uchiha blood, but her Uchiha parent is unknown to us. Probably an Uchiha who had ran away many years ago, and had started a family of his own without our knowledge."

Hideki nodded slowly. "That isn't uncommon during the time of my father, unfortunately," he said with a sigh. "But still, we can be certain that she is an Uchiha, and that means that she is family. Madara, since you are the one who had found her, she is to be your responsibility from now on."

Madara raised an eyebrow. "Father?"

"I hadn't seen an Uchiha with so much potential yet," said his father with a smile. "Maybe she is only a half-blooded Uchiha, but she is still an Uchiha. And she also possesses the legendary Rinnegan spoken about only in myths and legends. It is said that those who possesses the Rinnegan had the potential to be some of the most powerful shinobis that had ever walked the land."

Madara nearly groaned. "Father, please do not tell me that you are planning to use her for something—"

"Of course not!" Hideki nearly roared. "Who do you think I am, the Hyuuga?" He then sighed. "No. I just want you to watch over her, and once she is in good enough health to walk about, bring her to me. I would like to meet her. And I would also like for you to teach her the ways of the ninja and the Uchiha."

**

* * *

**Madara sat by the injured girl's bedside all night, studying her carefully. He had to admit that she looked very different from most of the girls in the clan. She had fiery red hair with golden highlights through it – an unusual hair colour for an Uchiha where most of their clan members had black hair.

It was near midnight when the girl started to stir, and Madara straightened up in his chair when he saw her eyelids beginning to flutter, revealing a pair of unfocused sky blue eyes before she screwed her eyes shut again.

"It's too bright," she mumbled in a hoarse voice.

"Are you alright?" asked Madara with concern, reaching for the pitcher of water on the bedside to pour her a cup of water which she took and drank gratefully as she sat up in bed, still with her eyes screwed shut.

The eyelids of the girl then fluttered opened again slowly, as she tried to focus and get used to the sudden brightness before she opened her eyes fully, revealing a pair of sky blue eyes to Madara which is bluer than the sky.

"Are you alright?" asked Madara again as he poured her another cup of water after she had finished her first cup. "I and my brother found you in the Sun Forest severely injured. Were you attacked or something? What is your name?"

"…name…?" The girl muttered, staring at Madara for several moments. "Name…? Who…?" She pressed her right hand against the side of her head, and Madara caught the subtle signs of panic in her eyes. "Who…am I?"

Madara can only stare.

Oh shit.

* * *

_A/N: As you might guess, it is going to be a very different Uchiha Madara in this story compared to canon. And I do have a few questions for my readers. For future chapters, do you want me to alternate scenes between the timeline in which Sayo is in, and for the Konoha timeline? As in, whatever changes that Sayo's presence is going to change history will change Konoha. Do you wish for that?_

_And as for Sayo losing her memory, it is all part of the story plot. A cookie to anyone who had managed to guess the actual reason why she had lost her memory, though I think that I've already given away a huge hint in this chapter._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_


	3. Time's Arm

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Three: Time's Arm**

The head medic of the Uchiha clan, Yuki, had put the girl through various examinations and tests for assessing brain damage after Madara had reported a potential amnesia status when she don't even remember her own name.

"Well, I don't find anything much wrong with her head or brain, but with how injured that she is when both you and your brother have first brought her in, it _is _possible that she might have suffered quite a knock on her head," said Yuki cheerfully. "She might probably be suffering from amnesia – something which usually happens due to a head injury. Though it is a good thing in itself that she still remembers how to talk and understand language, along with the basic everyday stuff like taking a shower, things like that. Otherwise, you'll be stuck trying to take care of a baby in a teenager's body."

Madara cringed at the mere thought of that, whilst behind him, Izuna and Seina were snickering away at the thought of it.

"So any do's and don'ts, Yuki-san?" asked Madara politely.

"Well, she seems to beshinobi-trained as her chakra coils are quite well-developed," said Yuki with a slight frown. "And I shouldn't really be surprised, especially if your initial assumptions of her having an Uchiha parent are accurate. And since most of her injuries are already healing nicely, she can do some light training, but nothing harsh like _extreme _taijutsu training _yet, _Madara-sama." Yuki told the elder Uchiha brother sternly. "And since she is shinobi-trained, it'll probably be easy to teach her what she needs to know again, as the training that every well-trained shinobi goes through is well ingrained into their body. And once you take her through the basic paces of training, her muscle memory will probably kick in. Seina can teach her the kunoichi stuff that you boys don't know."

Seina nodded eagerly. "I can do that," she said. "And I can teach her some medical ninjutsu as well."

Madara sighed. "Izuna, I have to go and see Father about this. Can you both take her to our usual training area once the medic-nins have given her the okay to leave?" he asked, and his younger brother nodded his head. "Thanks."

**

* * *

**Uchiha Hideki frowned as he placed down his cup of tea on the table where both he and his elder son were sitting at as Madara reported to him about the girl's current status.

"Amnesia?" he echoed, and Madara nodded.

"It might even be a permanent thing, and even Yuki-san had said so," said Madara. "She _had _been seriously injured when we have found her, so I'm guessing that either someone must have attacked her, recognising her as an Uchiha, or she had some enemies after her blood for some reason."

Hideki frowned. "Does she remember her name at least?"

Madara shook his head. "But we found only two things on her apart from that sword that she had when Izuna and I have found her," he explained before removing two items from his pocket and laying it on the table in front of his father.

A blue pendant teardrop ocarina, as well as a silver bracelet with a chain clasp holding the bracelet together, and a silver rectangle in the middle of the bracelet with the kanji letters 'Sayo' (佐用) engraved on it.

Hideki frowned as he ran his thumb over the engraved words on the bracelet. "Sayo…" he muttered. "Is that her name?" He glanced at his son who shrugged.

"Most probably, seeing as how she is wearing the bracelet when we have found her," said Madara. "Sayo… That is most probably her name."

Uchiha Hideki smirked. "Uchiha Sayo, huh?" he mused, returning his son the two items that he had taken out of his pocket. "That has a nice ring to it."

**XXXXXX**

Madara was deep in thought as he walked through the Uchiha clan enclave to the part of the Sun Forest where he, Izuna and Seina have always trained at.

The Sun Forest was part of the Uchiha clan's property, and no one other than an Uchiha is allowed to step foot on the grounds unless they have permission, and it also doesn't help that there are also several seals and blood wards all around the grounds, and no one but an Uchiha could step foot into it. That is only part of the reason why it didn't take much to convince Madara and his father that the girl – Sayo, is an Uchiha. As if she doesn't have Uchiha blood, the blood wards around the place would have repelled her back.

The Sun Forest is a beautiful place, probably only second to the territories of the Senju clan of the Forest, and then again, _that _clan lives in harmony together with nature, whilst the Uchiha clan lives in harmony with the elements itself. The place where the Uchiha enclave is at had a beautiful waterfall with sparkling beautiful water, along with the several water crystals shimmering at the bottom of the water.

Even the Sun Forest itself is a beautiful place, with birds and little mammals like squirrels running about in peace. Madara used to love to come to the Sun Forest and sit in the branches of the trees with a book or two just to see how the animals act around him.

Madara soon spied his brother, Seina and Sayo in the training area of the forest where they have often trained at. Seina and Sayo were seated across each other on their knees, with an unmoving fish in between them both, and a glow of green chakra were surrounding Sayo's hands as she tried to revive the fish.

Madara raised a brow but said nothing. Seina _did _say that she is going to teach Sayo medical ninjutsu after all.

"Izuna." Madara called to his brother who turned when he heard his name, and walked over to his older brother. "How is it going?"

Izuna sighed. "Well, she's like a sponge at least," he muttered. "Maybe Yuki-san is right, and that her muscle memory had kicked in as we take her through the shinobi basics, as she is good enough to give me even a run for my money. She's fairly proficient in taijutsu at least."

"Did you test her chakra affinity?" asked Madara, and Izuna nodded. "And?"

Izuna hesitated before whispering into his brother's ear, and Madara's eyes widened.

"_What? _She has _all_ five affinities?" Madara nearly hissed incredulously, and Izuna nodded.

"It shocked me too," said Izuna with a sigh. "I showed her a few of the basic katon techniques, and she had it down on the first try even _without using her Sharingan. _She hadn't used it once during our training, by the way."

"Has she forgotten how to activate it?"

"No. Seina showed her how to activate it which she did with no problem," said Izuna with a shake of his head.

Madara frowned. "If I'm not wrong, I remember some of our old clan records saying something about a Rinnegan user being a master over the five elements," he mused. "That doujutsu of legends _is_ said to be the doujutsu that the Rikudo Sennin had wielded after all."

Both brothers fell silent as they stared at the two girls in front of them. Madara do not deny that he is attracted to that redhead. Initially, he is attracted to her because she just seemed so vulnerable to him: so lost and confused, with no identity of who she is. But now, it is like something is pulling him to her.

"You like her." Izuna stated out of the blue, and Madara blinked and turned towards his younger brother who had a grin that he _really _doesn't like on his face.

"Excuse me?"

"You like Sayo," said Izuna again. At Madara's growl, Izuna grinned that cheeky grin of his that Seina seemed to like for some unknown reason that escaped Madara. "I am not blind, you know, nii-san?"

"Then you obviously need to get your eyes checked," said Madara curtly. "We barely know her!"

"You can't deny that you're attracted to her." Izuna pointed out, and Madara growled.

"You did it!"

A shout from Seina caused the two brothers to turn towards the girls. Seina was smiling that smile of hers that could always manage to brighten up Izuna's day, and Madara's eyebrow rose as the motionless fish in between the two girls a few moments earlier was now flopping about.

"I'm starting to think that you must have some medical ninjutsu training before, Sayo," said Seina as she placed the flopping fish gently into the tub of water that she had with her. "You've been doing fine so far. Give us a month, and we'll soon bring you to our level at least. Your muscle memory is helping you a lot with the whole ninja training."

Sayo smiled at Seina, and several strange images flashed through her head just then, with several strange voices that sounded almost muffled. An image of a beautiful blonde haired woman wearing a green jacket was standing across her with a motionless fish on the table in front of her.

"_You get injured so often on missions that I think you need to know some medical ninjutsu at least. You have considerable good chakra control. Not up to Sakura's level of chakra control, but still relatively good chakra control for you to learn medical ninjutsu. Just focus on bringing the fish back to breathing like this."_

Seina glanced at Sayo. "Do you remember anything?" she asked hopefully.

Sayo shook her head. "Whenever I tried to remember, my head hurts."

Seina placed her hand on Sayo's shoulder. "Don't fret," she said. "It doesn't matter to us even if you never remember your past. You're just going to have to relearn everything and make some new memories."

Sayo nodded.

**XXXXXX**

Two days later can find Madara, Izuna, Seina and Sayo in one of the towns of Fire Country.

Apparently, Seina had managed to convince Hideki that Sayo needs some new clothes as she can't possibly keep on borrowing Seina's own, and the Uchiha clan head had packed the four teens off to the nearest town for a shopping trip, much to the dismay of the two boys as they still hadn't forgotten the 'horrors' that they have suffered through the last time that Seina had dragged them for a shopping trip.

Sayo had been living with Seina after being released from the infirmary, as Seina welcomed the company after both her parents have died during a battle with the Senju clan two years ago, and she is the only girl in the clan that Sayo is comfortable with.

The town that they are in was unusually crowded, and Madara nearly groaned when he saw the telltale signs of booths and cubicles being set up all around the town, with several civilians putting up several poles of some sort to hold up the drape coverings.

"Of all the times when we could have come here…it _just _has to be on a festival day!" Madara nearly groaned.

"It's the Flower Festival." Izuna noted, seeing several civilian women putting up baskets of flowers in front of some random booth. "The celebration of a festival to welcome the spring. I've nearly forgotten about it."

"Well, here's the clothing shop," said Seina cheerfully before pulling Sayo in with her, and pushing the two boys into the shop before her, much to Sayo's amusement. "The Uchiha clan always come here to get their shinobi gear and clothes." She explained for Sayo's benefit, rather than for the two Uchiha brothers.

It is true in a way, as the town that they are currently in is the nearest town to the Uchiha clan enclave, and the clan often dropped by this town to get their shopping supplies like food, water, and even medical supplies, even shinobi gear and clothes. The clothing shop that they are in now is one that the Uchiha clan favours, as it sells both clothes and shinobi gear and weapons.

"Welcome!" said a friendly voice, and all four teens turned around only to see a smiling brunette man in his mid-twenties standing in front of them. "Seina-san! Madara-san! Izuna-san! Long time no see! And who is your companion?"

"Good day, Sato-san," said Madara politely. "It has been a long time. We need some clothes and gear for our friend here." He gestured towards Sayo who was pushed forwards by Seina. "This is Sayo. Uchiha Sayo. It's a long story, but we have…found her recently."

Sato raised a curious eyebrow, but didn't ask any questions.

The man is a former samurai before retiring as a civilian to run this shop that stocked shinobi gear and weapons, though he knew that the Uchiha clan had their own weapon-smith. There are some members of that clan like Seina, Madara and Izuna, along with a few others, who preferred getting their ninja weapons from his shop.

Sato smiled at Sayo. "Hello," he said, inclining his head politely to Sayo like how a man would to a lady. "I'm Sato Isamu. It's very nice to meet you. I hope that these three have been treating you properly. Heaven knows what kind of mischief that they would get up to." His eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Sato-san, you know that I hadn't pulled any pranks for the past two years." Izuna almost whined.

"Don't whine, Izuna. It's not becoming of you, especially for a ninja." Sato teased, and everyone laughed.

Sayo tried very hard not to smile, but she found it difficult to hide her amusement at the banter taking place in front of her. It is obvious even to the most oblivious person that this Sato is very fond of the three Uchiha ninjas with her, and even treated them like his own children.

"So what can I get you four?" asked Sato briskly.

"Well, Sayo needs clothes for training and when she is off-duty, even clothes for festival days that the Uchiha celebrates like the Fire Festival and the Sakura Festival. And we also need a stint of the typical shinobi weapons for her. Madara, Izuna and I also need to stock up on our own stock of weapons," said Seina with a small frown, ticking points off her fingers. "I also need to get a new set of clothes when I am off-duty."

Sato nodded before directing the two girls to the clothing area of the shop. "Well, you two ladies can head there to pick the clothes that you want. I'll leave you both to it as my wife isn't around today, and I believe that Seina knows the tastes of girls better than I do." He winked as Seina and Sayo laughed. "Meanwhile, you two boys can come with me. I have a new stock of kunais and shurikens in, even a new type of shurikens called 'impact shurikens'."

His voice then faded away as Madara and Izuna followed Sato to the weapons' corner of the shop where weapons of all kinds imaginable could be found, along with the typical kunais and shurikens on a high shelf to prevent children from reaching their hands on it.

Sayo and Seina exchanged looks before laughing to themselves. "Didn't take them all that long to pull their disappearing trick," said Seina with a laugh. "I do believe that they still remembered the last time when I've dragged them along with me on a shopping trip. Come on, Sayo. Let's get you some new clothes."

Sayo nodded before allowing Seina to drag her to the back of the store where the clothing area was. There were all kinds of clothing hanging on the racks – normal civilian clothing, ninja gear, kimonos, yukatas, and even battle kimonos.

"Any preference for colours?" asked Seina, sifting through the clothing racks.

"Blue." Sayo answered immediately.

"Well, blue is fine, but we need to have some different colours as well." Seina muttered.

She then pulled out several pieces of clothing, with a number of battle kimonos in different colours, along with the normal kimonos that civilians wore, as well as jackets, pants, and even shirts. The several different pieces of clothing came in different colours like dark blue, black, red, light purple, forest green and even pale beige.

Sayo had quite a mountain of clothes in her arms by the time that Seina was satisfied with her choices, with Sayo voicing out some suggestions here and there, as she wasn't even sure what style of clothing that she wants, as she simply cannot remember what clothing style that she goes for. But a very strange image went through her head of that of a white haired man bringing her to a clothing store before purchasing a black combat jacket for her when Seina had pushed her into the dressing room to try on the pile of clothes that she had.

**

* * *

**"Interesting…" said Madara with interest, picking up one of the 'impact shurikens' which are basically special shurikens which exploded on impact. It looks and feels like the normal shurikens that he usually handled, only slightly heavier. "This is one of the impact shurikens?"

"Yeah," said Sato with a nod. "It isn't out on the shelves yet as I wasn't sure how the customers would take to them, and I daren't create too many of it. It basically explodes upon impact, rather like how an exploding tag would, but instead of using your chakra to initiate the explosion, this shuriken explodes on impact, hence the name 'impact shuriken'."

"Sato-san, I would like some!" said Izuna with a grin, studying the impact shuriken in his hand. "Sounds pretty useful to me. It can even give us the element of surprise in battle."

"Get me some too, Sato-san," said Madara, turning towards the shopkeeper. "And get some for the girls as well, along with the usual kunais, shurikens, paper bombs, smoke bombs, flash bombs, ninja wire and exploding tags that we usually get. And we would also like a kunai holster, along with a ninja pouch for Sayo."

"Right away," said Sato with a grin. "Would you boys like to look at some of the newer weapons in stock? I happen to be feeling inventive the past weeks, and came up with some new items."

Izuna and Madara exchanged looks. "Sure!"

**

* * *

**Seina waited outside the dressing room that Sayo is changing in.

She had already tried on the leaf-green kimono that she had picked out earlier, and she had liked it, thus adding it to her purchase. Sayo had already shown her three of the outfits that she had picked out, and since the redhead had felt comfortable in them, Seina had added it to their purchase.

The door of the dressing room then creaked opened, and Sayo stepped out, dressed in a midnight blue battle kimono which ended at the thighs, with a pair of black shorts worn beneath which ended just a little below the thighs, with a black fishnet shirt worn beneath it. A pair of fishnet stockings was also visible on her legs, with the standard black ninja sandals that every ninja in the clan wore, along with a pair of black fingerless gloves on her hands. A slim black headband with edges of white around it was also visible around her forehead.

Seina grinned. "Well, I do believe that we've found a look that you like," she said. "Now for festival kimonos!" And she held out three pieces of garments in her arms. One was a black kimono with red flames patterned at the bottom, another was a midnight blue kimono with white floral imprints, and the last was a leaf-green kimono with white leaf imprints on it.

"Well, I must say that you have an eye for fashion." Sayo muttered, glancing over the kimonos in Seina's arms, and she liked the look of them, and even more the moment that she had tried them on.

"Well, that settles your clothes problem," said Seina cheerfully, taking the pile of clothes from Sayo. "Now let's go and rig up our purchases. The boys looked like they were about to die from boredom."

Sayo giggled.

**

* * *

**"Remind me again why she's your fiancée?" Madara almost groaned to Izuna as he was almost saddled beneath the weight of the numerous shopping bags in his arms.

Izuna grinned sheepishly at his brother, also with a number of shopping bags in his arms. Though to be fair to the girls, they _were _carrying several shopping bags as well, though not as many as the boys.

"Come on, stop your grumbling, Madara." Seina snapped. "This is way better than having you in battle, isn't it?"

"I'll rather face off against the Senju clan than being dragged along on a shopping trip." Madara muttered to Izuna who snickered to himself.

Seina who had overheard what the two boys have said laughed to herself before all three of them bumped into Sayo who had stopped in her tracks all of a sudden.

"Ow! What is it, Sayo?" asked Izuna, rubbing his nose. "Why have you stopped all of a sudden?"

"I'm sensing some _really _high chakra signatures," said Sayo, glancing back and forth.

Seina frowned at Sayo.

During their training two days ago, they have somehow found out that Sayo could be a sensory type ninja, as she is really chakra sensitive. She can sense chakra flows, and could even pick up the chakra signatures of ninjas easily. Sometimes far easier than the few sensory type ninjas that they have in the clan. Seina is a sensory type ninja as well, but even she couldn't pick up the chakra flows or chakra signatures of shinobis like how Sayo could.

"Are you sure?" asked Madara seriously, and Sayo nodded, still looking around.

Izuna frowned as a middle-aged man passed by them just then, and he spotted two teenagers around their age standing at a booth not too far away from them, arguing over some costume jewellery that was laid out in front of them. The older looking one who looked to be about seventeen – Madara's age, had tanned skin and black hair which just reaches a little below his shoulders. And he was wearing red ninja amour. His companion was a fair skinned boy a year or two younger than him with silver spiky hair that sticks up in all directions, and he wore blue ninja amour instead.

Madara, Seina and Sayo saw the two at the same time that Izuna did just then, and Seina almost groaned. "Oh boy… Fancy running into them here."

Madara frowned. "Let's head back to the clan enclave by the west exit," he said, turning around and going back the way that they have came. "I don't know about you, but I think that it is best if we do not get into a confrontation here. The townspeople here won't appreciate it as well."

"Huh? Why?" Sayo asked in confusion as Seina pulled her along with them as they hustled through the crowd.

"Sayo, those two come from the Senju clan of the Forest, our enemies," explained Madara. "The red armoured one is the Senju heir, and the other is his younger brother. There is a long rivalry and enmity between both our clans for generations. When one side hires the Senju clan, their enemies would hire us. Thus, we often ran into each other during our missions. They are also the only shinobi clan out there to fight on equal footing with us. Even the Hyuuga clan can't do that."

Sayo was interested, as she had only heard about the Senju clan in passing from Seina two days ago. "What are their names?" she asked.

"Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama."

Several strange images flashed through Sayo's head just then, and she could almost hear her own voice asking that blonde haired woman that she had seen in one of those 'flashbacks' a few days ago.

"_Baa-chan?"_

"_Hmm? What is it?"_

"_I've been reading up on the history between that of the Uchiha and Senju clans. What are the names of the First and Second Hokages again?"_

"_Good grief! What are they teaching you kids in the Academy these days? At least remember the names of the founders of your village! My granduncle's name is Tobirama. Senju Tobirama. And my grandfather is Senju Hashirama."_

Sayo can only stare.

'_W-What was that? Founders? Grandfather? That guy doesn't even look old enough to be a father, let alone a grandfather.'_

Sayo could only take a backward glance as Madara continued pulling her through the crowd.

"Senju…Hashirama…" she muttered.

As Sayo happened to be looking over her shoulder, she missed Madara's brief look of dislike and jealously that only appeared for a brief moment before vanishing again, but it didn't miss Izuna and Seina's notice.

The two in question then exchanged looks and smiled secretly to themselves.

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato  
Fire Country_

The door creaked opened as Haruno Sakura stepped into her old teammate's home.

It is just as she'd left it a week ago, still looking just as neat and tidy, looking like the apartment itself is ready to welcome back its occupant…just like before when its red-haired occupant would return after a long mission or the other.

Sakura sighed.

'_Sayo…where are you?'_

The pink haired girl then walked towards the bedside table only to see the old genin picture of Team 7 resting atop the bedside table, and picked it up, studying it carefully. What had gone wrong? They were still a team back then. Maybe still a pretty dysfunctional team, but still a team nonetheless.

Just what had gone wrong?

Now Sakura truly is the last member of Team 7, apart from Kakashi-sensei whom she barely sees anymore as the man had gone back to the ANBU.

Sakura studied the genin picture of Team 7 carefully, tracing each face visible in the photo with her fingertips.

Every single member had a copy of that picture when they have taken their genin picture on the day when they were officially made a genin team. Hers was tucked away in a drawer in her home, as she couldn't bear to see the photo and know just where she had failed so badly.

Sakura even wondered to herself just how Sayo could keep on looking at the photo day after day and not go insane.

In the photo, Sasuke was glaring at the camera, with Sayo only managing a very small smile, and Sakura herself was in the middle of the photo, smiling widely at the camera, with Kakashi-sensei behind them, both hands on the heads of Sasuke and Sayo, messing their hair up, with his usual eye-smile at the camera.

Sakura tried, and failed to see any signs of betrayal from Sasuke, when less than nine months after this photo was taken, Sasuke had turned traitor to Konoha. She also failed to see just what Sayo is bottling up inside her, and how she is really feeling. She failed to see just what is hurting both her teammates so much, and yet, she still dared to call herself their teammate?

Sakura set the photo down, and glanced to the side only to see an extremely thick book which she opened only to find several reports and photos of the Uchiha clan. After returning from her training trip, Sayo had been obsessed with finding anything that she could on the Uchiha clan, and their history. Probably just to find out what had caused Itachi to snap all those years ago, and just why Sasuke had betrayed Konoha.

The first photo that Sakura saw on the first page of the book seemed to be an extremely old photo with the edges yellowed with age – taken during the time of the shinobi clan wars even before the founding of Konoha. It seemed to be an old photo of the Uchiha clan heir back then with his brother and friends. But that's not the only thing that Sakura had found.

Her green eyes widened slightly in surprise upon seeing the photo.

'_Eh?'_


	4. Kuchiyose no Jutsu

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Four: Kuchiyose no Jutsu**

One year later saw many changes among the Uchiha clan, particularly the Uchiha clan heirs and Uchiha Seina.

Madara, Izuna and Seina have found out that Sayo seems to have photographic memory or something, as she didn't even seem to have to activate her Sharingan in order to remember the specific handseals for a jutsu. She is almost like a sponge, as they only have to show her a jutsu once, and she will soon manage to master it within hours.

Oh, she did train alright, as what Seina and Izuna can both attest to when they have accidentally stumbled across Sayo training by herself in the part of the Sun Forest where the four of them have often trained at.

The girl worked hard for her skill without even relying on her doujutsu. Madara, Izuna and Seina could respect that, as unlike nearly half of their clan, they tried not to rely on their doujutsu if possible as well, working hard for their current skill instead, as they knew that in the long run, if they depended too much on their Sharingan to get them out of the fire that they have gotten themselves into, they might be in some serious trouble.

As such, it didn't take Sayo long before her combat level is on par with Madara, Izuna and Seina, though unlike most of the kunoichis in the clan, Sayo didn't have the low chakra capacity problem, and which Seina didn't have as well, which most of the kunoichis in the clan found it 'unfair', and for the life of them, Seina and Sayo can't even comprehend just _how _they could come to this conclusion.

Sayo had also often indulged herself in the scrolls and books of the Uchiha library. Every Uchiha in the clan were allowed in the library, but it seems like Sayo is the only one who practically spend every single day in the library, looking through a mountain of scrolls and books.

Apparently, Sayo had accidentally stumbled across a basic book on seals and effective ways to seal inanimate objects, and she had practically fallen in love with seals. Unfortunately however, the Uchiha clan's library on seals are pretty limited, and Sayo had to experiment by herself on different seals, as well as buying whatever scrolls and books on seals that she could from travelling merchants or even from shops in towns and cities.

Sayo had never told anyone this, but the more she dabbled in seals, she kept receiving several strange flashbacks that almost seemed like memories to her, and assuming that those are _her _memories, she seemed to be a seals master of some sort in her…former life.

As such, Sayo managed to attain quite a reputation among the several other shinobi clans, particularly the Senju and the Hyuuga, though neither of those two clans knew what she had looked like, as no one from those two clans have seen her yet, only knowing of her by name and reputation.

Izuna and Seina have also gotten married about six months after Sayo's arrival, and the young married couple had decided to move into Seina's old house. Sayo had initially wanted to find another place to live in, but Seina had actually threatened her with bodily harm that if she even _thought _of such a thing, she won't live to regret it, as Seina had gotten very fond of Sayo's company.

**XXXXXX**

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Madara and Sayo who were both seated in chairs outside the emergency surgery room of the infirmary, followed Izuna with their eyes as he paced to and fro, his hands stuffed into his pockets with a worried look on his face.

Madara just stared at his brother with his arms crossed over his chest, and Sayo who was sitting next to him had her left leg thrown over her right. Both rolled their eyes with slight exasperation when Izuna paced around for the hundredth time.

Sayo finally sighed. "For goodness sake, Izuna! Stop pacing and sit down!" she snapped. "You're making my head spin."

Madara nodded silently before turning towards the entrance of the surgery room where Yuki had disappeared with Seina earlier, along with two of the clan's best medic-nins. The head medic had actually put up a silencing jutsu around the surgery room which is standard procedure every single time when she had gone into surgery, and he knew that it is probably killing Izuna to not be able to hear a single thing.

"I can't help it!" Izuna muttered, turning towards his brother and friend with a pale face, his hands stuffed into his pockets to prevent his hands from shaking uncontrollably. "To know that I can't even help Seina and could only sit out here… It makes me feel so useless."

Madara sighed. "Have faith in Yuki-san," he said. "She's the best medic in the clan, and Seina learned everything about the medic arts that she could from her. Just calm down. Seina will be alright."

The doors of the surgery room opened just then, and Yuki stepped out, removing the surgical mask around her face. Izuna was gone so quickly that Madara could have sworn that Izuna had shunshined over to Yuki.

"How is Seina?"

Yuki smiled. "Don't worry. Both mother and child are fine," she said. "You can go and see them now."

Before Yuki could even manage to finish her sentence, Izuna was gone in a flash, and Madara and Sayo laughed to themselves. "If this is how Izuna is going to act every single time when his wife is in labour, then I'll rather that Seina not have another child." Madara muttered.

Sayo laughed before getting up, pulling Madara to the feet by the arm. "Come on, let's go in and see them. I wanted to see Seina and Izuna's child as well."

Madara shrugged. "I suppose," he said before following Sayo in.

Izuna was by his wife's bedside, with a bundle wrapped in a white blanket in Seina's arms, and the couple was both looking lovingly down on that little bundle. Seina looked up as Sayo and Madara both entered, and she brightened up. "Sayo! Madara!"

"Though that we should congratulate the new mother and father," said Sayo with a wink, and Seina laughed. "So, is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy," said Seina with a smile. "Much to Izuna's dismay, as he wanted a girl."

Madara raised an eyebrow. "A girl? I would have thought that it's you, Seina, who wanted a girl."

Izuna grinned, and Sayo privately thought to herself that if that grin stretched any further, his face would soon crack into half. "Why have a boy when you could have a girl to spoil and dote on, and as beautiful as my love?" he grinned.

Seina frowned at Izuna and smacked him lightly on the bicep. "You're only saying that just because you're not the one who has to give birth!" she scolded lightly. She then smiled down at her sleeping son who is giving out light little puffs of breath whilst fast asleep, probably tired out from the birth as well. "Izuna, would you like to hold him?"

"Huh? Me?" Izuna squeaked.

"Don't worry, you won't drop him," said Seina with a laugh, reading Izuna's mind immediately.

Seina then helped Izuna to adjust his hold before he managed to hold his newborn son in his arms with confidence, cooing at his child with a goofy look on his face. Sayo and Madara crowded around Izuna, taking a look at the baby as well.

"He's so cute! He looks just like you, Izuna!" said Sayo, a smile on her face.

"So true. He hardly looks like me." Seina complained.

"But maybe he'll take after you in personality more then," said Madara with a grin. "You will be thankful for that, Seina, as Izuna's prankster genes won't rub off on your son."

Seina nodded with a smile before she looked at Sayo. "Sayo, will you help me to name him?" she asked, and Sayo looked at Seina, startled.

"Who? Me?" she asked in disbelief.

Seina nodded with a smile. "You are my best friend," she said. "There is no one that I would trust more to be my child's godmother than you. Would you like to name him?"

"A name, huh?" Sayo muttered. Her eyes then went to the blooming sakura tree growing just outside the window, representing the coming of a new spring, and one name instantly sprang to mind. "Spring…" She muttered. "How does Haru (spring) sounds?"

"Sounds good to me," said Seina, and Izuna nodded.

"Or you can name him 'Haruki', and you can call him 'Haru' as a nickname of sorts." Madara suggested, and Izuna and Seina both nodded.

"That's nice name," said Izuna. "Uchiha Haruki." He smiled down at his son, the newly named Haru. "Welcome to the world, Haru."

Madara snorted in amusement. "You sound like you're addressing an alien," he commented, and Seina and Sayo laughed.

**XXXXXX**

_Six Months Later  
Uchiha Clan Enclave_

"Are you going to tell me what you're up to, Seina?" asked an irritated Sayo as she allowed Seina to drag her through the Uchiha clan enclave, leading her towards the direction of the Sun Forest.

"Now where's the fun in that?" said Seina cheerfully as she continued pulling Sayo by the wrist.

"Aren't you supposed to babysit Haru?" Sayo tried desperately for Seina to let her go after the girl had practically pounced on her when she was walking through the Uchiha clan enclave after returning from the library.

"Izuna has got him."

Finally, Seina let go of Sayo's already bruising wrist the moment that they've arrived at the spot where the four of them tend to train in the Sun Forest. Sayo raised an eyebrow as she saw Madara and Izuna sitting in the clearing, with Haru sleeping on his father's shoulder sucking on his thumb. And Sayo suddenly decided that she didn't like that look on Izuna's face which is worthy of that of the devil, whilst Madara managed to keep quite a straight face.

"Okay, what is this all about?" asked Sayo as the two girls approached Izuna and Madara, and Seina reached down before taking Haru from Izuna, patting the baby on the back gently, and Haru let out gentle whimpers every now and then.

Madara and Izuna exchanged looks before moving away from each other only to reveal a birthday cake, and Sayo raised an eyebrow. "It's Seina's idea." Madara explained. "We know that you don't like big celebrations, thus, we decided to keep it to just us, seeing as how you don't really know the others in the clan all that well anyway. We didn't know when your birthday is, as you can't remember your past, so we decided to pick one for you. Everyone has a birthday, and you should have one too. Your birthday will be on the day when we have found you a year ago, July 21."

Seina then placed Haru down gently on the blanket that Izuna had spread out on the grass, in order to prevent the six month old baby to catch a chill from the wind. She then reached into her pocket before drawing out a black velvet box with a black ribbon around it.

"Here. This is from me," said Seina, giving Sayo the black velvet box which seems to some kind of jewellery box. "I've picked it up from a travelling merchant some time back. He said that it's a good luck charm of some sort." Sayo opened the box only to find a single earring with a tiny swallow pendant hanging from it. Seina then winked at her best friend. "I don't know why, but you kind of remind me of a swallow – always so carefree and gentle."

Sayo smiled. "I appreciate that. Thank you, Seina."

"And this is from me," said Madara, picking up the sword beside him that Sayo hadn't noticed until now. It seems to be a ninjato with a black hilt, with a white circular guard. The scabbard was also an elegant black and white colour. "I bought it from a travelling ninja merchant awhile back. You broke the sword that you had when we've first found you, and since Izuna and I _have _been teaching you kenjutsu for awhile now, we thought that it is typical for you to have a sword of your own." He handed the ninjato to Sayo who separated the sword from the scabbard slightly with a tilt of her thumb, revealing a gleaming silver blade. "This sword is kind of special. It's a special chakra insulator sword. You can focus chakra into it to use elemental attacks."

"Those kind of swords are pretty rare, Sayo," said Seina with an awed expression on her face. "How did you even find this sword, Madara?"

Madara smirked. "I have my ways."

"Thank you."

"And this is from me," said Izuna, reaching into his pouch and drawing out two coupons, and handing it to Sayo. He then leaned over to whisper into Sayo's ear. "Those are coupons to one of the restaurants in the town that we always go to. You can use it to go on a date with my brother. I know for sure that you won't mind."

The light blush on Madara's cheeks told Sayo that the teen had overheard what his brother had said, and Sayo blushed.

"Izuna!"

Seina laughed.

A bird call caught the attention of all four just then, and as one, all four heads turned skywards only to see a messenger bird circling twice in the air, calling out all the while. Seina sighed. "Looks like we have a job. Why now of all times?"

Sayo sighed before she got up from the ground. "Let's go."

**XXXXXX**

_Two Days Later  
Western Fire Country_

"Alright, this is our mission," said Madara, the leader of the mission, as the mission this time only requires a squad of four members. Any more than that, and they will be bound to be discovered. Madara spread a map of Fire Country onto the forested ground, and all four then squatted around it. Madara jabbed a finger somewhere in the western region of Fire Country where a building seemed to have been marked. "Basically, one of the lords of a city in northern Fire Country had hired us to do a job for him. Someone had apparently taken off with a scroll that is the 'key' to some ancient treasure or something to his enemy, some guy that rules several civilian villages in western Fire Country, and he lives in a castle of some sort."

"Let me guess, he wants us to retrieve the 'key'?" Izuna interrupted.

"Well, I guess you can put it that way." Madara muttered. "No, the lord's exact words are that, if possible, we are to retrieve the key without anyone noticing. If not, we are to torch the entire castle with all the occupants still inside. Apparently, he had decided that if he can't get the key back, it is better for it to be destroyed."

Seina sighed. "A demolition mission, huh?" she mused. "What castle is that?"

"Castle Kei," answered Madara. "I did some research on it, and also had some scouts scout out the areas around the castle a few days back. They told me that it had some tight security around it, and apparently, the enemy of our client had hired the Senju clan as bodyguards."

Nearly everyone present groaned. "Why am I not surprised?" Izuna muttered. "Just one. I'll just ask for _one_ bloody mission that _didn't _have the Senju clan involved! Every single time that we go on a mission, the bloody Senju clan is involved!"

Seina sighed. "Well, let's hope at least that all of us would come back alive," she muttered, and flinches greeted that comment.

Every single time whenever members of the Uchiha clan were sent out on a mission that was known to have Senju involvement as well, at least one member of the squad that was sent out would be coming back in a pine box. Though to be fair, it is the same for the Senju clan as well.

"That's why you're here, Seina. At least, that's what I think." Sayo muttered.

Madara sighed. "Well, you're not that far off from that idea, Sayo," he said. He then cleared his throat. "Well, seeing as how I don't think we're going to be able to get past the Senju clan _unnoticed, _I think that the mission parameters had just changed to that of a demolition mission."

Izuna frowned. "Castle Kei," he muttered. "If I'm not wrong, that castle is one of the most heavily guarded places in all of Fire Country. I happened to pass by that place once after a mission, and it is guarded more heavily than that of the Fire daimyo's palace!"

Sayo shook her head. "Whoever the lord of the castle is, he is damn paranoid!"

Seina sighed. "Madara, any plans?"

Madara sighed. "Apart from using explosive tags? No. Any plans that I could come up with will result in the Senju clan on us before too long. The power of that clan is on par with us for a reason, and I'll rather _not _be forced in combat with that of our most hated and feared enemies."

An idea struck Sayo just then, and she took a quick look at the map. In the areas surrounding Castle Kei, there was nothing but forests. "I think I have an idea," she said, and all three turned towards her.

Sayo fumbled in her pouch before drawing out four blank scrolls.

Sayo usually kept several blank scrolls on her person in case she needed them for some seals on a mission…like now. The redhead then drew out the scroll which she had sealed her sealing supplies in, and with a light poof, a brush and an inkwell popped into existence before she quickly drew extremely complicated looking seals on the pages of the four blank scrolls that she had.

Izuna's head started to hurt as he tried to make sense of the seals, but felt his brain starting to fry. He only knew the basic sealing methods that every ninja in the clan knew, and unlike Seina who uses some seals for medical purposes, and his brother who only had moderate knowledge in seals beyond the sealing items type, no one in the clan had knowledge on seals apart from Sayo.

That is only part of the reason why Sayo had such a reputation for herself despite only having been with the clan for a year. She is well known as a seals master, probably the first that there ever was in the shinobi world.

"Alright, to put it in simpler words, these are what are known as 'explosive barrier' seals." Sayo explained, handing three out of four scrolls to Madara, Izuna and Seina each. "These seals are designed to convert the chakra pumped into them to form a barrier of some sort over a vast distance, though there must be four of these at one time in order for the seal to work properly. And once the barrier is constructed properly, one of the four maintaining the barrier will set off the explosion, incinerating everything within the barrier."

Seeing the confused looks on Izuna, Madara and Seina's faces, Sayo sighed and gave up. "Look, just pump in chakra into this seal whilst being situated at four different corners of the castle, and I'll do the rest, okay?"

"Well, we definitely can't be alone whilst doing this," said Madara sensibly. "We'll be vulnerable whilst performing whatever that this seal is going to do." He then frowned before his face brightened up. "I know!" He then bit on his thumb, drawing some blood, before performing a series of handseals.

_Boar. Dog. Rooster. Monkey. Ram._

Madara then slammed his hand down onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A large plume of smoke appeared, and when the smoke had faded away, a group of four weasels, with each as large as a fully-grown dog were standing on the ground. One was a teal colour, another was a beige coloured, the third was a dark orange, and the last which seemed to be the leader was a cream coloured with black stripes down its back.

The leader looked up at Madara. "What is it, Madara?"

Madara sighed. "Sorry to be calling you guys out here, Kamitari," he said. "But I need you and your siblings to attach yourselves to each one of us. We have an important job to do, and I can't leave any of them unguarded at any times."

"Judging by that, can I assume that whatever each of you are going to do will require utter concentration on your parts, and you can't defend yourselves if necessary?" asked the weasel, and Madara nodded. The weasel sighed. "Fine. Jin, you go with Izuna. Kaze, the lady. And Sanae, the redhead."

The three weasels nodded before heading towards their respective partners.

A very long silence fell before Sayo broke the silence by coughing lightly into her fist. "Well, I guess that settles that problem," she said. "I'll cover the eastern side of the castle. You guys can decide where you want to go. One hour from now, pump in your chakra into the seal. We have to all pump in chakra at the same moment, otherwise, the barrier will fail. Also, once the barrier glows silver, get the hell away from the barrier, or you'll get caught in the explosion too."

Seina, Izuna and Madara nodded to show that they understood. The Uchiha heir then got to his feet whilst rolling up the map and stuffing the scroll that Sayo had given him into his pouch. "Alright, we have our respective jobs. Let's go."

**

* * *

**Sayo was relieved when the pale blue barrier was put up, surrounding the entire castle with no problems whatsoever.

Her sharp ears could however hear panicked shouting from the samurais and ronin guarding the castle, and knew that it is only a matter of time before attacks were launched against the barrier, and knew that she had to be quick. The barrier is only used for demolition purposes, not for keeping one in.

With her right hand still on the seal, still pumping her chakra in to maintain the barrier, she formed a single handseal usually associated with sealing purposes with her left hand. The entire barrier glowed silver before Sayo grabbed the weasel guarding her – Sanae, who had been looking at the barrier with interest. Sayo then shunshined away nearly ten feet away from where the barrier is.

And just in time too.

A loud explosion went off, and leaves, sticks, branches, rocks and stones went flying, and Sayo has to close her eyes in order to prevent debris from getting into her eyes. She sighed as she viewed her handiwork – no one could tell that a castle had just stood in the grounds, and there was also an enormous crater which seemed almost like a nuclear bomb had just gone off in that spot.

"Mission accomplished." Sayo muttered.

"Not quite," said an unfamiliar voice, and Sayo whirled around sharply only to see a red armoured teen with tanned skin standing barely ten steps away from her.

Sayo recognised him immediately, as Madara, Izuna and Seina have pointed this guy and his brother out to her nearly a year ago at the marketplace. The heir of the Senju clan of the Forest, Senju Hashirama.

Sayo nearly groaned at her luck…or lack thereof.

"Oh shit."

**

* * *

**Seina dropped down to the ground to avoid a sword cleave from the Senju clansman that she is currently facing, and immediately struck his heart with a medical jutsu designed to stop the heart from beating, resulting in instant death immediately.

It is nearly suicidal to get into close combat with a medic-nin, though many people often underestimated the prowess of medic-nins, particularly field medics who in reality, are as skilled in the operation rooms as on the field.

"Seina!"

Seina turned only to see Izuna running towards her. "Izuna!"

"Come on, we have to go!" said Izuna. "Madara has gone to get Sayo. With that explosion, anyone lucky enough to escape that explosion would soon be coming after us. Come on!"

Seina nodded.

**

* * *

**"You're indeed as skilled as you looked." Senju Hashirama commented, glancing at the small seal on his right arm which Sayo had managed to put on him the moment that he had came close to the redhead. The moment that the seal was placed on him, the kunai in his hand had clattered onto the ground immediately, and his arm fell uselessly by his side, unresponsive to his commands. "So you're the one that we've been hearing rumours about." Sayo raised an eyebrow, a kunai in her right hand. "The Senju clan have been hearing rumours of an extremely skilled seals master in the Uchiha clan, and an equally skilled ninja in the art of the shinobi, said to be on par with Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Izuna and Uchiha Seina. Those rumours don't do your skills justice."

His dark eyes gleamed at a chance to be able to exchange blows with the mystery ninja of the Uchiha clan that all ninja clans have been hearing about for the past year or so. A master of the art of seals, which as far as he knew, is the first to appear, as understanding and knowledge of seals is extremely difficult to attain. Even whatever knowledge of seals that he had, he only knew the basics about weapon sealing and all that.

Besides, Senju Hashirama is a shinobi after all.

He lived for the thrill of battle and victory. He might not like the wars that have been ravaging their homeland ever since he was born, but he understood that it is all but part and parcel of their shinobi life.

"You talk too much," said Sayo with a raised brow. "As long as you use seals for any of your attacks, I can disable them. That is the reason why a seals master is so much feared. I do not have to use my Sharingan in order to defeat you."

In fact, Sayo had a different reason for not using her Sharingan.

Madara, Izuna and Seina have explained to her that her Sharingan is different from theirs. Sayo already knew that, as her Sharingan looks different from the Sharingan belonging to the three when they have activated theirs. Madara had also explained that her Sharingan seems to be a mixture between the Eternal Mangekyou, the ultimate form of the Sharingan, as well as the legendary doujutsu, the Rinnegan.

That is one reason why Madara had told her that it is best if she do not use her Sharingan unless she has no other choice.

"You are interesting," said Senju Hashirama as he barely dodged out of the way of Sayo's kunai. "What is your name?"

Sayo raised a brow. "Uchiha Sayo," she said, before she vanished from her spot with a burst of speed that caused Senju Hashirama of all people to lose his composure, and started looking left and right wildly.

His sixth sense sensed incoming danger, and he quickly whipped out a kunai with his remaining functioning arm before two kunais clashed together. The Senju heir suddenly found himself looking straight into a pair of enthralling sky-blue eyes, and could almost find himself getting lost into the depths of those eyes.

"You're indeed good," said Sayo. "I see that Madara isn't exaggerating when he said that you could give him a run for his money. I suppose the fact that neither of you are dead yet despite countless battles against each other spoke wonders for your skill level."

"I could say the same for you," said Hashirama. "Not even Uchiha Seina could push me to this limit like how you could. Only Madara could. You're good."

An incoming projectile came their way just then, and both leapt back as a kunai struck the ground where they were at mere moments ago. As Sayo looked up into the branches of the tree, she saw Madara landing on the topmost branch, panting heavily.

"Sayo, fall back!" Madara called. "We've completed the mission objective! There is no further reason for us to fight."

Sayo nodded before she drew out two smoke bombs in between her fingers from her pouch. "It's too bad that we couldn't finish our fight, but this has to come to an end," she said before she threw the smoke bombs onto the ground, effectively hiding her from view with the sudden smokescreen.

And when the smoke cleared, both Uchihas were gone.

Senju Hashirama smirked as he tried his right arm only to realise that he had regained mobility back in his arm. _'Uchiha Sayo, huh?' _he mused to himself, looking up into the tree branches. _'She is interesting.'_

**XXXXXX**

_Outskirts of Uchiha Clan Enclave  
Sun Forest, Fire Country_

It was near midnight when the group of four have arrived at the outskirts of the Uchiha clan enclave, walking through the Sun Forest. All four were exhausted as they've been travelling for hours just to return, and they daren't take the risk to stop for a rest as they couldn't be sure that there are no enemies after them.

"Alright, before I submit my report to my father, any reports from either one of you?" asked Madara, turning towards the three.

"Well, I faced off against some random Senju clansman and managed to dispatch him, though I think that it is probably due to the fact that he is already injured from the explosion that I am able to dispatch him so easily," said Seina.

"I faced Senju Hashirama. But Madara arrived before we could finish our fight." Sayo grunted.

"I faced one of the ninja mercenaries that the lord of the castle hired," said Izuna. He then frowned. "But now that I come to think of it, he had never said once that he was hired by the lord of the castle." Seeing the blank looks on the faces of Madara, Sayo and Seina, he proceeded to explain. "Because I remember him saying 'I want to test your power, and judge if you're worthy of living in this world'. At that time, I thought that he was just mumbling some nonsense, but…"

"There is a third party in that mission?" Sayo mused, and Izuna nodded. She then frowned. "The 'key' that was taken from our client… Madara, you said that the 'key' is the lead to some ancient treasure or something?" Madara nodded. "What if this 'third party' is also after the 'key', but couldn't manage to get to it because we blew the castle up?"

Seina frowned. "Are you trying to say that he was after the 'key' for his own reasons?" she asked, and Sayo nodded.

Madara frowned. "Well, it _is _possible," he admitted. "I mean, the client didn't exactly go into much detail about the 'key' that was taken from him, so anything is possible." He then cleared his throat. "Well, I'll omit this fact from the report. But in the meantime, we might have to keep our eyes and ears opened. Don't speak a word about this to anyone else. I have a bad feeling about this."

**XXXXXX**

_Next Morning  
Sun Forest_

Even before anyone is awake the next morning, one could find Sayo walking towards the training area in the Sun Forest where she always used to train at with Madara, Izuna and Seina. Seeing Madara summon his weasels the previous day during their mission had struck an idea in her. She remembered reading somewhere that the summoning of each individual is unique to them, though the book didn't exactly say _how._

Sayo glanced left and right, but saw no one around, before she sat down on her knees and performed the handseals that she had seen Madara perform last night when performing his summoning jutsu, pouring in ¼ of her chakra into that move alone.

"Ousu-buta, Inu, Tori, Saru, O-hitsuji."

She slammed her palm down onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A large plume of smoke appeared, and before Sayo even knew what is going on, she felt a pull behind her naval, and she was pulled through who-knows-what, before being sent through a void of some sort.

**

* * *

**…and she was practically flung _hard _onto a ground which caused Sayo to see several stars for several moments.

"Ow!" Sayo whined, holding her forehead where she is certain a bump is going to form there soon. "Where am I?"

She then looked around her.

The first thing that she noticed is that a group of humongous wolves in the colours of white, silver, dark blue or black were surrounding her in a circle, their golden eyes looking at her curiously. The second thing that she noticed is that the skies seemed to be pitch black, and she had a funny feeling that daylight doesn't mean anything here. The third thing that she noticed is that this place seemed relatively similar to a valley of some sort – almost like a mini-village. A mini-village of _wolves, _to be exact.

Sayo gulped to herself nervously when she saw the wolves sniffing at her. _'I'm so dead. Something tells me that I'm about to become their next meal.'_

"Who dares tread upon the territory of the Night Wolves?" A deep voice growled out, and when Sayo looked up and towards the direction where the deep voice had came from, she almost suffered from cardiac arrest when she saw the _largest _wolf that she had ever seen glaring down at her whilst being seated on his – Sayo was sure that it's a he at least – haunches.

The wolf was nearly as large as a mountain, and his coat is that of a mixture between midnight blue and black, with streaks of silver through it. A black eye-patch was over his right eye, with a scar just visible behind that eye-patch, with the scar stopping just a little below his forehead. There was also a red bandanna tied around his neck, with a silver crescent moon marking in the middle, with a line through the moon, reaching from the top to the bottom. And now that Sayo glanced around, she saw that every wolf present had a bandanna somewhere on them, with the tribal marking on it.

"A human, Santen-sama," said some random wolf with a silver coat who had a rather kind look to it.

And Sayo might be wrong, but she could have sworn that this wolf seemed to be female. It wasn't very large, as it is about as large as a fully-grown dog, but the rest of the wolves parted ways, and allowed the silver wolf to sit by Sayo. The wolf eyed her curiously before sniffing at Sayo, and the redhead was too petrified to even move before the wolf seemed satisfied about something and turned towards Santen who seemed to be the leader of the wolves.

"She doesn't seem to wish us harm."

"I see," said Santen before his voice grew less threatening. He then looked at Sayo with interest. "Human child, how did you get to the den of the Night Wolves? No being in this world knew how to find us, not even the other summonings."

Sayo glanced warily around her before looking straight into Santen's eyes. "I-I attempted the summoning jutsu, and next thing that I know, I found myself here."

The wolves all stiffened in surprise, and even Santen looked at Sayo with interest. "You attempt the summoning jutsu, you say? And that jutsu brought you here?" Sayo nodded nervously. Santen eyed her for several moments before speaking again. "Child, do you know of the Night Wolves, and the history of our pack?"

Sayo shook her head. "I'm afraid not," she said. "Whatever archives and records there are on summonings aren't very forthcoming."

"Our pack, the Night Wolves, are said to be representatives of the yin and yang of the world. We are the direct descendants from the wolves of Light and Dark – Hati and Skoll," said Santen. "Light and dark. Day and Night. The cycle of Day and Night is also said to be because of the presence of the Night Wolves. As such, the Night Wolves held tremendous power. We are among the first summoning contracts during the time of the Rikudo Sennin, and not to blow my own horn, but we are one of the few legendary summoning contracts. You said that you came here because you had attempted a summoning jutsu. I can now tell you, no mere human could come to our realm unless they are chosen to do so. Several years ago, our High Priestess foretold a prophecy in which we would receive a visit from a human child, and that child will lead our clan and the world to greatness."

"And that child…" said Sayo slowly. "…was me?"

Santen looked at Sayo gravely and nodded. "It seems like it," said the gigantic wolf. "Not even the Rikudo Sennin had gained the right to summon us. Our ancestors drew up several rules for us to follow if we do not wish for our clan's demise. One among those rules is that only those who could come to our realm are worthy enough to summon us. One day, if you find someone worthy to pass on the legendary summoning contract of the Night Wolves, he or she will have to pass our test in order to gain the right to summon us."

"Does that mean that…?" Sayo trailed off, not wanting to get her hopes up.

An expression that seemed very much like a smirk passed the wolf's face. "Tsuki!" The silver wolf from earlier nodded before pushing a rather thick and large scroll from out of nowhere towards Sayo's initial direction, with the scroll opening itself, and showing several blank columns. "Draw some blood and write your name with your blood before marking your blood with all four fingers and thumb on one hand."

"Erm…alright," said Sayo before she took out a kunai and formed a cut on her thumb and writing her name on the first column with her blood before doing as Santen said. She wondered for a moment why her name is the first to be written.

"Because you are our very first summoner," said Santen, almost like he had just read her mind. "I've said before that we are rather picky on who we let summon us. As one of the legendary summoning contracts, do you seriously think that we'll just let anyone summon us? No. What is your name?"

"S-Sayo. Uchiha Sayo."

"I see. Sayo, huh?" mused Santen, an unreadable expression in his eyes as he studied Sayo for several moments. "We've accepted you as our summoner, and therefore, you are one of us from now on. We will fight to defend you, and we also expect you to do the same. You are one of our pack, and we will allow no harm to befall one of our own. Will you accept these rules belonging to the House of the Wolves?"

"Yes."

"Take this summoning scroll, and do not let it leave your side, no matter what," said Tsuki, nosing the scroll towards Sayo. "If you found someone whom you deem worthy enough to summon us, you have to summon one of the two right-hand wolves of the Alpha of our pack in order to let us determine if the future summoner is worthy or not. In this case, Santen-sama's two right-hand wolves are my twin Taiyou (Sun) and me."

A male wolf that looked a lot like Tsuki, only with midnight blue fur approached Sayo, with a cheeky grin on his face which kind of reminds Sayo of Izuna, also baring his very impressive fangs at the same time which looked both sharp and powerful enough to tear a human to shreds.

"Take a note though, Sayo," said Santen, and Sayo turned towards the wolf. "It takes more chakra to summon them both than any other wolf, apart from me, of course. And whenever you summon them, you summon both of them at once. Once you're back in your world, the first wolf that you usually summon would be your familiar."

"I understand," said Sayo before withdrawing one of her storage sealing scrolls and sealing the wolf summoning scroll within it.

"With that, I guess that you should head back to your own world," said Santen. "Tsuki."

"Hai," said Tsuki before approaching Sayo and grabbing hold of her shirt with her teeth. "Hang on tight." She then vanished in a poof of smoke, taking Sayo with her.

"The Child of Prophecy…" Santen muttered, his eyes not leaving the spot where Sayo had been at moments prior. "I wonder…could she be…?"

* * *

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_**Switch (Naruto)**_

_AU FemNaru. What if the original Team 7 are the Sannins, and the original Sannins are Team 7? In an alternate universe where the Fourth is alive, and Sasuke is the one who had betrayed Konoha, Sakura being the one to leave the village and Hikari being the last Sannin to serve Konoha faithfully, what would life be like for them?_

_**Keyblade of Darkness (Naruto)**_

_AU FemNaru. When the ninja world had fallen, Namikaze Shiki soon found herself in Traverse Town where she ended up assisting Leon and his friends with the Heartless, and later on, joining the Keyblade Master, Sora, on his journey to close the Keyholes, in search for the very person who is responsible for destroying her world – Uchiha Madara._

_**Of Magic and Spirits (Harry Potter)**_

_AU FemHarry. Remus defied against Dumbledore's wishes by calling his old friend, Ryuuken Ishida, and asking him to take care of his best friend's daughter by raising one Hilda Potter as Uryuu Ishida's younger twin sister. Bleach/HP crossover_

_**Darkest Before the Dawn (Harry Potter)**_

_FemHarry. After the war, Hilda Potter was betrayed by the very side that she was fighting for and was nearly killed by the people who was her once comrades. With help from Hermione and Ron, she fled to America along with Draco and Luna where they resided in the rainy town of Forks. Twilight/HP crossover_

_**Silent Symphony (Harry Potter)**_

_FemHarry. When Rowena Ravenclaw witnessed for herself just how the wizarding world was led to doom because of the actions of one Albus Dumbledore which lead to the birth of Lord Voldemort, she forced herself through a cycle of reincarnation and became Hilda Potter. Watch out, world. Rowena Ravenclaw is back. And she isn't happy. Cedric/FemHarry_

_**Blue Moon (Prince of Tennis)**_

_FemRyo. Echizen Rika and Yukimura Seiichi are the former leaders of squad Zero – the highest ranks that a shinigami could reach – who had deserted their home and had discarded their lives as shinigamis when everything that Soul Society and the King had done goes against what they had stood for. Now, nearly five hundred years later, the two were the leaders of the Vizards, and when Soul Society got wind of their existences, the two of them, along with the Vizards, have to take up arms once more to defend their homes as well as the friends that they've made in Phoenix Star Academy. Prince of Tennis/Bleach crossover_

_**Silence, the Loudest Sound (Prince of Tennis)**_

_All of Rikkaidai Fuzoku, the boys' tennis team especially were excited when they heard that the famous Princess of Tennis would be coming to their school and joining the boys' tennis team after having disappeared from the professional tennis scene for six months. But what Rikkaidai and everyone didn't know is that the Princess of Tennis can't speak. FemRyo_


	5. Sacrifice

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

I'm back! And sorry for the late update! I've been watching several new anime recently, among which included Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan and Uraboku. If you hadn't watched either of the two, I'll recommend you to watch it. Not only does it have a great storyline, but the hinted romance parts aren't too bad as well.

Also, as a side note, I'm not really sure what the Eternal Mangekyou actually does, so Sayo and Madara's abilities of the Eternal Mangekyou in the near future will actually be fabricated from my imaginative mind, so my apologies if it doesn't go in accordance to the anime or the manga. And a big thank you to Kimi-mahou-tsukai for coming up with a name for Sayo's familiar wolf.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Sacrifice**

Two whole months after Sayo's initial meeting with the Night Wolves and having attained her summoning contract marks the start of another war with the Senju clan.

Madara, Izuna and Seina were all remarkably surprised when Sayo had told them about her summoning contract, as they were each trying to find a summoning contract for Sayo by themselves, as they each have one. As Madara had just passed his eighteenth birthday four months ago, his father had given him the summoning contract passed down from clan head to clan heir for generations in the Uchiha clan – the summoning contract of the phoenixes.

The phoenix summoning clan had been one of the legendary summon contracts in the shinobi world, and Madara had gone through a rather tedious trial of task and error when he had to go through the initial test set up by the phoenix boss in order to gain the right to summon her kin.

Seina had the eagle contract which she'd gotten from her late parents, whilst Izuna had signed the weasel summoning contract passed down to him by his older brother when Madara had to give up his weasel summoning contract when he'd signed the phoenix contract.

And as such, two whole months after Sayo's initial meeting with the Night Wolves, and when she'd practiced battling with them, particularly with her familiar, and a few of the other wolves that she sometimes summoned for tracking or guarding purposes, it marked the start of a war between the Uchiha and Senju clans.

Every able shinobi in the Uchiha clan was thus called out for battle, and Craig Blue, a rather barren wasteland in the Fire Country became the battlefield between the two clans.

**XXXXXX**

Sayo dodged another incoming projectile whistling towards her before throwing a kunai towards her attacker with such alarming speed that the kunai actually went through her assailant's throat, killing him instantly, along with another Senju shinobi standing behind the first.

Sayo had to knock away another barrage of kunais and shurikens with the kunai that she had in hand just then, whilst not too far away from her, Seina, Izuna and Madara were all busy with their own opponents as well, with Madara's hands full with dealing with the Senju clan heir, Senju Hashirama, whilst Izuna and Seina were both busy with Senju Tobirama.

Sayo took one step backwards just then as her movement to knock away the kunais and shurikens raining down on her forced her to take one step backwards, and her eyes widened as her left foot stepped on something that she found distinctly familiar.

'_Shit!'_

Without further ado, Sayo immediately took to the air just in time as a dynamite went off in the same area where she had been standing in several moments prior, and the fighting stopped momentarily as every Uchiha and Senju shinobi turned towards the source of the explosion.

"Sayo!" Madara called out before striking down another one of Senju Hashirama's trees with his sword.

The after-mentioned redhead dropped down near Madara just then, cursing to herself as she examined her partially ripped sleeve on her left arm where rivets of blood could distinctly be seen through the rip.

"We have no other choice." Sayo stated, getting to her feet, drawing out the sword hanging from a cloth holster on her back that Madara had given to her for her birthday, revealing a gleaming silver blade. She then slashed at the tree branches and the tsunami wave that came her way simultaneously, dispersing the water, and rendering the tree branches useless at the same time, incorporating the wind element in her sword. "Are the three of you ready?"

Izuna sighed. "I guess we do not have a choice," he stated.

"Amen to that." Seina agreed.

Madara sighed. "Let's get to it."

All four Uchiha ninjas leapt back just then, biting on their thumbs and drawing blood before wiping the blood down a summon tattoo on their left wrists, with all of them crying out, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" simultaneously.

There was a giant plume of smoke, and when the smoke had cleared, the four summon bosses of the phoenix, wolf, eagle and weasel clans were visible on the battlefield, looking particularly intimidating to all shinobis present.

**

* * *

**"Hey, he's still alive!"

"We need a medic here immediately!"

"Damn the Senju!"

"Is he still alive?"

Shouts like that could be heard echoing over the battlefield of Craig Blue nearly an hour later when the Senju clan have retreated, with the clan losing nearly half of their shinobis that have came into battle with them. Though to be fair, the Uchiha clan had lost nearly the same number of shinobis as well, if not more.

The remaining survivors were now doing a quick headcount of the number of dead on the battlefield, and those that are still alive have medics tending to them, though it didn't seem like it is working very well, as the injuries that the near dead have sustained are too serious.

And looking at the chaos that is currently happening in front of them, Sayo, Madara, Izuna and Seina sighed to themselves, blood splattered on several parts of their clothes, and there were also some injuries visible on their bodies.

"All this fighting… When will it ever end?" Seina pondered to herself.

"I doubt that it would ever end, Seina," said Madara with a sigh. "As long as we live in this world of the ninja that we live in, I seriously doubt that it will ever end. All the hatred and vengeance…it is like a chain. Hatred only gives birth to more hatred. As long as one is still alive, it will never really end. It is like a curse in the world of the shinobi that we live in. One that will never ever truly end."

**XXXXXX**

"Bartender! Another round!" Madara called out, banging down his cup of sake onto the bar counter in the nearest town from the Uchiha clan enclave.

On either side of him, Sayo and Izuna were staring at him with concern.

Seina wasn't around as she had to look after her son who is just starting to learn how to toddle by himself, but Seina don't feel reassured enough to leave her son alone for any periods of time. Thus her absence.

It had been a month and a half ever since that war with the Senju clan, and it had ended with heavy casualties on both sides, with both clans having came to an unspoken truce to end the war between both their clans, as nearly every single shinobi in the Senju and Uchiha clans were all tired, worn-out and exhausted, both mentally and physically. If the war continued for much longer, both their clans might very well be wiped out of existence.

The memorial service for all the Uchihas lost in battle had just been held earlier that day, and that is the reason why the three Uchiha ninjas could be found in a bar in the nearest town, watching Madara drink himself silly, trying to get himself hammered. Unfortunately for Madara though, most shinobis were trained to have endurance against alcoholic drinks, and he is no exception, though a light flush was visible on his cheeks.

Izuna and Sayo stared pointedly at the ten or so tall bottles of sake in front of Madara. As the bartender looked at them nervously, silently asking them what he should do, Izuna sighed and nodded, and the bartender hurried to get another round of sake for Madara. No civilian is suicidal enough to deny a grumpy and bad tempered ninja his sake unless they have a death wish.

"Madara, are you _trying _to kill yourself?" Sayo asked at last with a sigh, swirling her sake in the cup that she had in her hand. She didn't drink as much as Madara, only having half a bottle so far. "Ten or so bottles of strong sake is toxic, even for us."

Madara didn't reply as he was busy chugging down more sake down his throat, though at least he still remembered his manners, and was drinking from the cup rather than from the bottle directly like what Sayo had often seen from the other guys in the Uchiha clan throughout the course of the war.

Sayo sighed. "Don't blame me if you have a serious hangover tomorrow," she warned. "I understand your need for some hard vodka right now, but you're overdoing it. Your liver will rebel if you drink much more."

Izuna sighed. "I'll keep an eye on him." He promised. "Didn't Seina ask for your help in babysitting Haru tonight?"

"Yeah," said Sayo with a nod, looking at Madara with concern who is currently slumped over the table. "That son of yours had been trying to toddle by himself all over the house recently that Seina is rather paranoid of leaving him by himself for even a minute. If you're sure that you can handle Madara, I'll leave now."

"Don't worry. I can handle my drunken brother," said Izuna with a laugh, though it sounded false, and judging by the raising of Sayo's eyebrows, she had detected it.

The redhead then sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "If you say so," she said before sliding off the stool. "I'll see you both back later."

Izuna nodded before Sayo left the bar. The younger of the two Uchiha brothers then sighed and looked over at his brother. "Nii-san, how long are you going to continue playing this charade with Sayo?" he asked bluntly. Rather like with Sayo, Izuna knew that there is no good beating around the bush with Madara. It is much better if he just go straight to the point. "I know that you like her."

Madara pushed his head off the table before sitting upright, though with an arm supporting his chin, and he turned towards his brother. "I would be gay if I do not," he stated so matter-of-factly that it actually made Izuna snigger. "But it isn't the time for it now, and you know it."

Izuna's face fell. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Too many people have died. That war is one of the worst that there ever was, throughout the history of all our fights with the Senju. If only…if only we were stronger…"

"Hey Izuna," said Madara suddenly, and Izuna turned towards his brother who had on a rather thoughtful expression on his face. "The Sharingan… Do you seriously think that the three comma stage is the highest that we can reach at present?"

"I don't think so," said Izuna with a shake of his head. "Have you forgotten about Sayo's Sharingan? She had the ultimate form, remember?"

"Yeah. I had been quite interested in that ultimate form ever since Sayo had came here," said Madara. "But as she doesn't remember how she had even gotten it in the first place, I don't quite like asking her about it. But if there is a way to attain the ultimate form of the Sharingan…maybe…just maybe, we can get stronger with it, and we might even be able to protect the clan with that power. The Senju clan had been getting bolder of late."

"That's true," said Izuna with a nod. "If it wasn't because of the fact that they've lost just as many shinobis during the war, if not more, they would have continued fighting us until we're all wiped out. If there is a way to attain the Eternal Mangekyou…"

"The clan library," said Madara slowly, and Izuna turned towards his brother. "If there is any information on it, it might be in the clan library. That is where all our records and our jutsu techniques are recorded after all. If there is any information on the Eternal Mangekyou, the clan library should have information on it."

**XXXXXX**

The next morning, Madara was cursing the birds chirping excitedly outside the kitchen window, along with the brightness of the sun, as he sat at the kitchen table, clamping both his hands over his ears, trying to block out the surrounding sounds. Sayo was sitting beside him as she handed him a cup of tea to help with his hangover, trying hard not to laugh.

Somehow, Izuna had managed to convince his brother to move in with him, Seina and Sayo about two months after he and Seina have gotten married. Madara didn't put up too much of a fight as he knew that his brother will either annoy him about it until he nods his head, or just move all of his stuff into his house so that he'll end up moving in anyway.

"I did warn you that this will happen," said Sayo, fighting back her laughter as Madara glared at her over drinking his tea.

"So will you be doing anything today?" asked Madara, massaging his temples with a groan, wishing that his headache will go away. "Izuna and I are planning to head to the library. There is something that we wanted to look up."

"No. Seina has a mission today however," said Sayo with a raised brow. It is common knowledge that Madara and Izuna would never step foot into the library if they could help it. "And why are you both planning to head to the library anyway?"

"Well, we wanted to look up on the stages of the Sharingan." Madara mumbled through his tea.

Before Sayo could say anything to that, Seina stepped into the kitchen just then, dressed in her kunoichi outfit with a blade strapped to her back, a napping Haru sleeping on her shoulder. "Good morning, you two," said Seina. "I have to leave for my mission soon enough, and seeing as how all three of you are going to be in the library today, I'll drop Haru off at Yuki-san's. You can pick him up later after you have finished whatever you are going to do."

"Will do," said Sayo with a nod. "Come back alive, Seina. And be careful."

"I always am," said Seina.

She then raised a brow when she saw Madara nursing his hangover, letting out a few curses now and then, and walked over to him. Her right hand then glowed green before she pressed her hand lightly to Madara's head, and the Uchiha heir sighed in relief when the pain pounding through his temples stopped.

"I'm leaving now."

**XXXXXX**

"Are there really information on the Eternal Mangekyou in the library?" Izuna finally groaned after three hours of searching through the numerous scrolls and books in the library.

Sayo wasn't there as a relatively young medic-nin had came barrelling in through the doors of the library an hour earlier, apologising frantically to the librarian, and had yanked Sayo with her out of the library, saying something about Haru refusing to stop crying, and Yuki had sent the medic-nin to get Sayo in order to calm the toddler down, as Haru seemed to love his godmother as much as his own parents.

"I'm sure that there is," said Madara stubbornly, flipping another scroll over his shoulder on the already growing pile of books and scrolls on the table behind him. "The Sharingan is a great part of the ninja arts that all Uchihas learn. There must be something about it here." His eyes then lit up as he opened the scroll that he had just gotten from the nearly empty shelf that both brothers are currently standing in front of. The first thing that he saw when he opened the scroll is a diagram of the Eternal Mangekyou. "Bingo." He almost whispered.

**

* * *

**Sayo was exhausted mentally by the time she made it back to the library, with a now sleeping Haru sleeping in her arms.

The little tyke sure had a loud set of lungs, as he nearly woke every sleeping patient that Yuki had in her infirmary earlier. The head medic-nin wasn't pleased by that fact, and as Haru had refuted all attempts to quiet him and to send him back to sleep, she had sent one of her newer medic-nins to get Sayo who is about the only one apart from Seina who could calm Haru down within a few moments.

The redhead wondered for a moment if Madara and Izuna have found any information on the Eternal Mangekyou in the library. If truth be told, she is kind of curious as well about the Eternal Mangekyou, and she wondered how she had even gotten it, as she simply can't remember.

She had never searched for information on the Sharingan before in the library, as much like Madara, Izuna and Seina, she had never tried to rely on her doujutsu in a fight, though she had a greater reason to hide her doujutsu, as her Sharingan is kind of a mix between the Rinnegan and the Sharingan. If this information had gotten out to rival clans, who knows what would happen?

"How is it?" asked Sayo as she walked towards Madara and Izuna, with the mountain of books and scrolls gathered on the table behind them almost hiding the two brothers from view. The redhead raised an eyebrow when she received no answer, and saw that both brothers are pale, and were both staring at the scroll in Madara's hands as if they couldn't believe their eyes. "What's wrong?"

Izuna turned towards Sayo, pale. "S-Sayo. That." He pointed towards the scroll in his brother's hands with a shaking finger.

Sayo raised a curious eyebrow.

Izuna is acting very weirdly, and she read the scroll over Madara's shoulder as her hands are currently full with Haru. She then took in a sharp intake of breath as she read what Madara and Izuna have read earlier.

That scroll contains information on the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, and the stages that came with each evolvement. The information on the Mangekyou Sharingan and the Eternal Mangekyou were included in the scroll as well. Sayo's attention was focused more on the Eternal Mangekyou rather than on the Mangekyou Sharingan, and she almost dropped Haru from the shock that surged through her when she read the information.

In order to attain the Eternal Mangekyou – the ultimate form of the Sharingan, the wielder has to take the eyes from their sibling – a brother or a sister, and implant them into his own head. Sayo almost forgot to breathe when she read that.

It couldn't be…

She couldn't have done the unthinkable and had gotten the Eternal Mangekyou that way, could she?

"Sayo, I don't think that you had gotten your Eternal Mangekyou the way that it is described here," said Madara suddenly, almost as if he had just read her mind. "You have the Rinnegan as well, remember? If you had gotten the Eternal Mangekyou the…_traditional_ way, you wouldn't have gotten the Rinnegan as well. I don't know how you had gotten the Eternal Mangekyou, but I don't think that we'll ever get to know."

"Nii-san," said Izuna quietly, and Madara and Sayo both turned towards him. "Should…should we still attempt to get the Eternal Mangekyou?"

"Absolutely _not!" _Madara snapped immediately, ignoring the frown from the librarian. "I will not sacrifice my own brother just for the sake of some goddamn doujutsu! It is another thing if we have to go through some trial or something to get it, but no power is worth the sacrifice of my own brother!"

"You said that you wanted to protect the clan!" Izuna snapped back. "How many people have died during the last war with the Senju? And that goddamn war barely lasted two months! If another war broke out, and this time, lasted longer than the last one, how many people do you think will die? We need the Eternal Mangekyou. You know this!"

"How about Sayo?" Madara asked desperately, clinging onto some faint glimmer of hope rather like a drowning man clinging onto a rope. "She has the Eternal Mangekyou as well!"

"You know that she can't use it in front of our enemies unless she has no other choice!" Izuna snapped at his brother. "If she ever uses her doujutsu, even the three comma stage of the Sharingan, the enemy will know that she possesses the Rinnegan as well, and all hell will break loose!"

Sayo was looking from one to the other like she is watching a tennis rally.

Her heart was beating rather wildly, and her thoughts were running wild as well. Did she really take her sibling's eyes to attain her Eternal Mangekyou? Logic told her that she did, yet she had a feeling that she didn't attain her Eternal Mangekyou the traditional way, as what Madara had said made sense too.

If she had gotten the Eternal Mangekyou the 'traditional way', she wouldn't have been able to get the Rinnegan as well. If so, then how did she even get the Eternal Mangekyou in the first place?

Looking up, Sayo noticed that the argument between the two brothers were getting heated up, and noticing the angry scowl on the librarian's face, she quickly decided that it is in their best self interests to get the two brothers away from the library.

"Alright!" said Sayo loudly, breaking up their argument, and both brothers turned towards her curiously. "What do you say if we take this argument to the Sun Forest?" She lowered her voice. "We're attracting too much attention here. Let's take this somewhere else."

Looking around, the two brothers saw the angry looks that the librarian was shooting them, and quickly agreed with Sayo. Taking the scroll pertaining the information on the Sharingan with them, all three Uchiha ninjas quickly left the library, making a beeline straight to the part of the Sun Forest where they have always trained at.

"The cost of getting the Eternal Mangekyou is too high." Madara argued. "I'm not doing it!"

"I'm not all for dying anytime as well, nii-san," said Izuna tiredly. "It is true that Sayo had the Eternal Mangekyou. But she can't use it unless she absolutely has to for certain reasons, and you know it. And even if she could, she is only one person. She can't be everywhere at once! To protect the clan, we had to have at least one person who had the Eternal Mangekyou."

"But—"

"If it's Haru and Seina that you're worried about, I know that you and Sayo both will protect them in my steed," said Izuna tiredly. "Let's put it this way. Let's have a fight. The winner will get the Eternal Mangekyou." He sighed. "Either way, one of us will die today. It is all for the sake of the clan."

There was a very long silence after that.

Madara didn't want his brother to die. But on the other hand, having the Eternal Mangekyou will enable them to better protect the clan. Giving his life up to protect the clan and his brother will help them in the long run. And besides, Izuna has a wife and child that he needs to be there for. He'll let Izuna kill him.

"I understand," said Madara before getting to his feet. He then turned towards the redhead and tried not to look into her eyes. "Sayo, if you would start the fight for us?"

The redhead looked at the two brothers for a long while before sighing. "Are you both sure about this?" she asked. As ninjas, she knew that they have to sacrifice several things sometimes, often the life of a comrade or a kin. But this?

"Yes."

Sayo took several steps backwards slowly as Madara and Izuna stood facing each other on the forest bed, each holding a kunai in one hand. The redhead closed her eyes, preventing the tear from falling. She really didn't want to do this. Once she start this match, only one of them will walk away alive. She didn't want either one of the two to die. But do it, she must.

For the sake of the clan.

She let her hand fall. "FIGHT!"

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato (Future)  
Fire Country_

A pink haired kunoichi barrelled through several ninjas, pushing them out of her way as she approached the training grounds in the village, and made a beeline straight to one of the jounin training grounds where Neji, Shikamaru and Sayo often used to train at, and she quickly found the two male jounins whom she had been searching for.

"Shikamaru! Neji! I've finally found you!" Haruno Sakura panted, hunched over on her hands and knees in order to catch her breath back.

Neji and Shikamaru paused in the middle of their spar before turning towards the pink haired kunoichi. "Sakura?" Neji blinked in confusion. "What is it?"

"Look at this!" said Sakura, pulling out an obviously old and wrinkled photograph from within her pocket, and almost shoving it beneath the noses of the two boys in front of her. "I was at Sayo's apartment earlier, and I found this. Look carefully at this picture and tell me what you see!"

Shikamaru frowned as he took in the face of one of the people in the picture and brought it closer to his eyes, examining the picture carefully. "That girl in the picture," said the lazy genius, giving the photo to Neji, and jabbing his index finger at the picture of said girl. "Doesn't she look awfully like…?"

"Sayo." Neji finished his sentence grimly.

Shikamaru frowned, his brain working a hundred miles per minute as he tried to make sense of what is going on. The lazy genius then froze when he recalled coming across Sayo in the fuuinjutsu section of the library in the Hokage Tower once a few months after Jiraiya had died, and he recalled seeing what Sayo is researching on, and her brief explanation about it.

It couldn't be…

"Shikamaru?" Sakura voiced out in concern, seeing the lazy genius frozen, with a look of horror on his face.

"Sakura, Neji, I think I might know where Sayo is now." Shikamaru muttered, almost ironing his forehead with his hand. "But I need to spend some time in the fuuinjutsu section of the library in the Hokage Tower to be certain. It might have something to do with seals. I hadn't attained seal mastery like how Sayo did, but I'm still proficient enough in them."

"What are you talking about, Shikamaru? What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked with confusion.

"If my suspicion is spot-on, then Sayo…she might probably not be in this timeline any longer."

**XXXXXX**

The dripping of blood resounded throughout the clearing, but the blood wasn't Madara's.

Uchiha Madara widened his eyes in shock when he looked down and saw that Izuna had grabbed his hand that is holding the kunai and had plunged it into his own gut into a vital point. He then looked up to look at his brother's face, and saw that Izuna was smiling weakly. Why the hell is he smiling when he is about to die? And on that note, why did he force Madara to kill him?

"Sorry nii-san." Izuna whispered softly. "It isn't your time yet."

He then crumpled to the ground in a heap.

"Izuna!" Madara called out, cradling his brother's body in his arms. Sayo was by his side in a split moment that it almost seems as if she had just shunshined next to him. "Why? Why did you do such a foolish thing? I was prepared to die so that you can protect the clan in my steed!"

"I know that," said Izuna weakly. "I…am your brother after all. Don't you think that I would know what my own brother is thinking? That's why I decided that you have to be the one to protect the clan in my steed. You're…stronger than me after all. You have to be the one." He coughed harshly, hacking out huge amounts of blood. "I…have one last request."

Madara nodded. "Name it."

"Protect Seina…and Haru for me…"

"I promise," said Madara, trying hard to prevent his tears from falling, but failing.

Haru who had been asleep all this time on Sayo's shoulder woke up just then, and he squirmed about in Sayo's arms, turning around to face his father, a curious look on his face, as he didn't understand what is currently happening. The toddler immediately tried to reach for his father.

"Ha…ru…" Izuna breathed out weakly. "Sorry… I'm sorry…that I couldn't be there for you… Be…a ninja that your mother can be proud of…and grow into…a fine man. Haru…I'm sorry…"

"…Da…ddy?" Haru spoke his first word, and Izuna's lips tilted into a small and gentle smile at hearing his son's first word. Haru squirmed about in Sayo's arms before the redhead set him down, and the toddler crawled over to his father who hugged him loosely. The toddler looked at Izuna with curious eyes and opened his mouth. "Daddy?"

"Daddy…must go now, Haru…" Izuna breathed out. "Sorry… Protect your mother…in my steed. Forgive me, my son. I love you."

Sayo bent her head down whilst sitting on her knees on the forested bed, her hands clenching fistfuls of the grass below her, tears dropping onto the forest bed. "Izuna…"

"Sayo…please…" Sayo looked up at Izuna through her tear-filled eyes, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "I know…that Seina had taught you medic ninjutsu. You…can transplant eyes into someone else's head. That…is a procedure that every medic-nin in the clan knew. Please…"

Sayo nodded before wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, feeling her heart about to break. She then turned towards Madara. "Madara, get over here," she said, her voice quavering. "I'll start the transplant immediately."

"Thank…you…" Izuna breathed out.

Haru seemed to realise that something is wrong with his father, as the toddler looked from his father to his uncle, then to his godmother and back again, grasping his father's bloodstained arm with his own tiny fingers, and making several baby sounds.

It wasn't too long before Sayo had transplanted Izuna's eyes into Madara's head, and she watched as the Sharingan of the older Uchiha swirled into the Eternal Mangekyou, barely restraining his tears from falling. It is true that Izuna had wanted it, but it didn't make it any easier on them to do so.

"Nii-san…" Izuna breathed out, only now with his eyelids shut. "Protect…the clan…and…my family…"

Madara nodded, even though he knew that Izuna can't see it, grasping his brother's hand in his own. "I will," he said firmly. "That is a promise."

Izuna smiled weakly. "Thank…you…" he breathed out before his breathing stilled, and his body stilled as well.

He never moved again.

**

* * *

**Both Madara and Sayo got quite a bit of attention when they walked through the Uchiha clan enclave with a bloody Izuna on Madara's back when the two headed straight to the infirmary.

And as such, it didn't take long for the Uchiha clan head to head towards the infirmary when he had heard that his younger son is dead, and as such, both father and son are now outside in the waiting hall of the infirmary as Madara explained everything to Uchiha Hideki whilst Yuki is cleaning up Izuna's body.

"I've seen many young shinobis die even before they've began their shinobi career." Yuki said suddenly as she dressed Izuna in a white kimono, with Sayo cleaning the blood off Izuna's face. Haru had cried himself to sleep earlier, and was currently curled up in a bed next to his father's, sleeping soundly. "Some are as young as nine. Izuna won't be the first one to die in such a manner, and he won't be the last. As long as we live in this world of the ninja, there will always be sacrificial deaths like this."

"I know that," said Sayo quietly, and she froze suddenly as a myriad of images went through her head, and she could swear that she could almost hear voices resounding about in her head.

"…_Uchiha Seina?"_

"…_as long as I'm alive…!"_

"…_I won't let you…!"_

"…_I am an Uchiha, and I bow to no one!"_

"Sayo?"

Yuki's voice brought the redhead back to earth, and the head medic-nin looked at her with concern. "What's wrong?"

Sayo didn't answer as she pressed one hand to her head. _'Seina?'_

She immediately turned and ran into the waiting room, startling the Uchiha clan head and his son who were both outside. "Good Heavens!" Uchiha Hideki almost jumped. "What is it, Sayo?"

"My apologies, but Seina is in trouble! I have to go!" And Sayo immediately opened up a black portal which is part of her abilities of the Eternal Mangekyou and disappeared through it before anyone can say anything.

"Sayo! How do you know that?" Uchiha Hideki asked in confusion, but the redhead was gone.

**

* * *

**The portal travelling abilities for Sayo's Eternal Mangekyou is useful, but also extremely taxing on the user.

She had actually discovered it by accident one morning when she found herself waking up in Madara's room after a nightmare when she is _sure _that she had fallen asleep in her own room the night before. Thank goodness that the Uchiha heir was fast asleep, though it had brought a round of embarrassment for Sayo, as she had realised that Madara slept shirtless, and that he had a habit of talking in his sleep. The Uchiha heir had mumbled out her name several times as he curled up around a pillow, along with words like 'whipped cream', 'horse', 'bar', 'whip' and 'chains', and Sayo immediately decided that she _didn't _want to know just _what _Madara is dreaming about.

Sayo had summoned the three wolves that she summoned the most whether for guarding or tracking or even spying purposes whilst on missions – Atotori, Shiri and Kane, and had promptly asked the three how they have travelled between their own world and her world, as it didn't take Sayo too long to figure out that she must have travelled through some sort of portal to actually end up in Madara's room.

It had taken Sayo a little over two months to figure out how to utilise her portal travelling abilities, even with the advice from her summons. But it is extremely taxing on her, as it takes up a fair amount of chakra, though she has a rather large chakra storage anyway, so it is no problem for her. And she could travel to a place where she had been to before, and she could also use the portal to open up a place near a person with a familiar chakra signature – in other words, someone whom she knew personally and had interacted with on a daily basis.

As such, Sayo appeared in a clearing where she saw Seina on the ground with Senju Hashirama in front of her with a kunai in hand. Sayo immediately sent a quick Katon: Gokakyuu at the Senju heir which had the instant effect to make him leapt back as Sayo got to Seina's side immediately.

"Seina!"

"S-Sayo…" Seina gasped for breath as she grasped Sayo's hand.

Looking down, Sayo saw that Seina's windpipe was almost crushed, and she was hit in several of her vital points. Sayo quickly formed several quick handseals and started healing the worst of Seina's injuries, praying that she could heal Seina enough to place her body in stasis by means of a seal until she could get her to Yuki.

"Seina…"

"Looks like…I won't be able to fulfil my promise…" Seina breathed.

Sayo shook her head. "Seina, don't speak!" she ordered. "You'll be alright."

"I…zuna…"

Sayo quickly used some of Seina's blood to draw an elaborate looking seal on Seina's arm to put her body in stasis just to keep her alive, literally stopping time on Seina's body so that she wouldn't die from her injuries. Sayo then swiped some of her blood down on the summon tattoo on her left arm, and with a poof of smoke, a handsome looking wolf about the size of a fully grown dog with golden eyes with smoky grey fur stood next to her, a red bandanna with the tribal markings of the Night Wolves on it tied around his neck.

"Atotori, bring Seina back to the Uchiha clan enclave and tell them everything that has happened," said Sayo, and the wolf nodded.

"What about you?"

"Don't worry, I'll be alright," said Sayo. She then fixed the Senju heir with a glare. "I have some business to attend to."

Atotori nodded. "Get out of here if things get too much for you." The wolf warned before grasping Seina's clothing in his teeth and disappearing like a wisp of mist.

Sayo then got to her feet, fixing Hashirama with a glare before drawing out two smoke bombs from her pouch, hiding it behind her back. "I don't fully understand what is going on here, but I do know that you're going to die here!" she snarled as she threw the smoke bombs in front of her, hereby hiding herself within the smoke effectively.

Sayo's eyes then quickly morphed into the Mangekyou Sharingan before there was a loud boom, and black flames immediately encircled the area where Senju Hashirama was standing moments prior.

"So that's the famed Mangekyou of the Uchiha clan," said a voice, and Sayo frowned as the smoke cleared only to find Senju Hashirama standing on a tree bough of some tree that he had just summoned, the right arm sleeve of his battle kimono missing, with said sleeve burning with the dark flames on the ground below him. Senju Hashirama smirked. "If I hadn't gotten out of the way in time, I would have been a goner."

Sayo growled. "Don't get too cocky, you bastard!"

"Yare yare. I don't really like fighting girls, but it can't be helped." Senju Hashirama mused before forming several handseals and slamming his hands down onto the tree bough that he is currently standing on. "Mokuton: Daijurin no jutsu! (Wood Element: Great Forest Technique)"

A large mass of tree boughs immediately sprouted out of the tree that the Senju heir was standing on, along with the ground, and before Sayo could say or do anything, several branches had bound her arms and legs, preventing her from forming any handseals, and a tree spike gutted her in the abdomen, though the redhead had managed to move enough to prevent the spike from hitting her in any of her vital points.

Sayo coughed out blood as she glared at the Senju heir. She knew that her last encounter with Senju Hashirama isn't all that he is capable of. But to think that he could actually do something like this…

"You're…indeed good, Senju Hashirama." Sayo breathed out, and Hashirama narrowed his eyes. "I didn't think that I will have to use this against you." She bent her head down so that Hashirama could not see her eyes swirling into the Eternal Mangekyou. _"Rise. Revenants."_

The temperature of the surroundings dropped several degrees just then, and dark shadows formed on the ground before morphing into several demon-like shadow entities with sharp talons and fangs that easily broke through the trees that attempted to bind them.

"W-What is that?" Hashirama asked, fear in his voice.

"Demon entities created from the hottest flames of Hell which you had just experienced for yourself earlier." Sayo answered, and Hashirama immediately glanced at the black flames of Amateratsu burning merrily. "These are among the weakest among the ones that I control, but also the most difficult to kill."

One of the demon entities broke the branches holding Sayo just then, and she fell to the ground, landing on her feet. The redhead winced as she pressed her hand against her abdomen and looked at her palm only to see crimson blood. She knew that she can't stay long as well, as she is already close to blacking out.

"It's too bad that it has to end like this, but I can't stick around for long. Have some fun with them."

Sayo then opened up another portal and disappeared through it.

**XXXXXX**

_Three Hours Later  
Infirmary, Uchiha Clan Enclave_

Three hours later can find both Sayo and Madara sitting in chairs by Seina's bedside.

Izuna had been laid in the coffin in the cove where the Uchiha clan had enshrined all their deceased. Sayo had practically collapsed in the infirmary three hours ago, and it took almost every medic-nin their skill to heal her, especially straight after bringing Seina back from death's door. It is a close one, but Yuki had managed to save Seina, though the girl had lapsed into a coma, and even the head medic-nin is unsure when Seina will ever wake up.

Sayo had woken from her sleep an hour earlier, and despite Yuki's protests, Sayo had insisted on sitting by Seina's bedside. Seeing as how she technically isn't walking out of the infirmary, Yuki had finally relented by stating that Madara is to keep an eye on her.

The latter had almost brought every single book in the library to Sayo at the redhead's request. For one, Sayo knew that Madara is feeling particularly wretched and that he needs something to take his mind off things. And another thing is that Sayo is half-afraid that Madara might do something stupid, especially since his brother had died hours prior, and one of his closest friends had nearly died on the same day.

"It looks like you've discovered another ability of your Eternal Mangekyou," said Madara after listening to Sayo described how she had known that Seina is in trouble. He sighed. "Omniscience. It means that you have the ability to see the past, present and future. And along with your portal travelling abilities, and those demon summonings of yours, you have three known abilities right now."

Sayo sighed, taking Seina's bandaged hand in hers. "All this fighting…when is it going to end?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. "And Izuna…"

"Izuna's death is on my count," said Madara firmly. "Father didn't blame me for it as Izuna wanted it, but I know that the rest of the clan don't feel the same. It is as good as cold blooded murder to them."

"It wasn't your fault," said Sayo with a sigh. "I know that Izuna's death is inevitable, but Seina…" She paused. "I was too slow to save her. If only I was faster…"

"I've got the Eternal Mangekyou that you now have. That now makes it two people who have it in the clan – the ultimate stage of the Sharingan," said Madara, his voice quavering. "I know that you can't remember how you had attained it, but my own…" He bit on his own lip. "What kind of bloodline must require the user to kill their own kin? What kind of cursed blood is this?"

Sayo said nothing, and Madara turned towards her.

"I wasn't strong enough to protect the clan. Neither was Izuna. That's why both of us wanted the Eternal Mangekyou in order to protect the clan from the Senju. I wasn't strong enough to protect my brother. That's why I will get strong enough. You said that you weren't fast enough to protect Seina. Then get faster."

Sayo managed a weak smile. "Yeah. I guess I will."

Both of them then turned their attention towards Seina where a sleeping Haru was huddled against his mother. The poor child had literally lost both of his parents in one day, and it was all their fault! The least that they could do is to raise him like they would their own child, even if it is something that they've both promised Izuna.

'_Get faster…' _Sayo thought to herself. _'I suppose I will. I will develop a technique which speed is incomparable to any shunshin out there. I will create it, come hell and high waters. And even if it half kills me, I __**will **__master it!'_

Sayo then slumped against Madara's shoulder, startling the teen, and he turned his head only to see Sayo leaning her hand against his shoulder, her eyes closed. "Just let me stay like this for a while," she muttered.

A soft expression appeared on Madara's face. "Yeah," he said before wrapping one arm around Sayo's shoulders, giving her some comfort. He then studied Haru and Seina's sleeping faces for several moments before making up his mind. _'I will protect you both. I will. I will keep my promise to Izuna and raise you like how I would raise my own son. I swear that I will protect you.'_

_

* * *

__A/N: Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed. I really have little idea how I'm going to get Madara his Eternal Mangekyou, and since he did say in canon that he and his brother fought in order to get the Eternal Mangekyou, I came up with this idea. And about Seina, initially, I wanted to kill her off, but I really like her, and couldn't bear to do it in the end._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_**My Other Half (Naruto)**_

_FemNaru. All twins are like one single entity. On the night of the Kyuubi attack, Uchiha Madara took one Namikaze Sayo away with him to Akatsuki where she is trained to be one of their members. Now, nearly fifteen years later, both Namikaze twins met each other for the first time, and can Sayo bring herself to bring her twin to instant death when Akatsuki and the Leaf-nins faced each other in battle?_

_**Silent Symphony (Harry Potter)**_

_FemHarry. When Rowena Ravenclaw witnessed for herself just how the wizarding world was led to doom because of the actions of one Albus Dumbledore which lead to the birth of Lord Voldemort, she forced herself through a cycle of reincarnation and became Hilda Potter. Watch out, world. Rowena Ravenclaw is back. And she isn't happy. Cedric/FemHarry_

_**Hilda Evans Snape (Harry Potter)**_

_FemHarry. Hilda Potter never went to the Dursleys at all. Lily Potter had made it quite clear in her will that if anything were to happen to her and her husband, one Severus Snape is to be given custody of her. With use of a blood adoption ritual, Severus Snape soon became the father of Hilda Potter, and soon became known as Hilda Evans Snape. Hilda is two years older than canon. Charlie/FemHarry_

_**I Fall For You (Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru)**_

_What if Yuki is reborn as a girl in this life? And what if she is much more quiet and soft-spoken than expected? After a trauma that sealed her voice shut, she gains unexpected help in the form of Zweilt Guardians, and will she open her heart to a certain Opast? Luka/Yuki_

_**My Little Angel (07-Ghost)**_

_FemTeito. Verloren's angel was slain by the 7 Ghosts when the daughter of the King of Heaven wanted the angel out of the way. Mad with grief, Verloren slain Eve, and both master and angel were then banished to Earth for eternal reincarnation until the end of time. Now 1000 years later, both master and angel met each other again…in the Barsburg Military Academy._

_**Three's a Crowd! (Kaichou wa Maid-sama)**_

_Who would have thought that the Student Council President of Miyabigaoka and the Demon President of Seika High were once friends? No one in Seika High expected that, least of all Usui Takumi. And thus, the poor guy soon started feeling very jealous when Igarashi Tora soon making advances on Misaki. Usui/Misaki. One-sided Igarashi/Misaki_


	6. Unwilling Truce

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Six: Unwilling Truce**

Six months later, if one would just walk into the Uchiha clan enclave, they would have found the atmosphere a tad bit gloomy and different from the usual bright and cheery atmosphere that the Sharingan wielding clan had always emanated.

It had been six months since the death of Uchiha Izuna, and it is like when he had died, he had taken the sun with him. It is of no exaggeration to say that Uchiha Izuna is like the sun of the clan, always laughing and joking. He helps keep the spirits of the clan up; a clan who is born and bred for battle, and where any one of them might just come back in a pine box at any moment when they were sent out on missions.

Uchiha Madara especially had practically shut himself off from the rest of the clan. In fact, the only ones whom he would even talk to or associate with are Sayo, Yuki, Uchiha Hideki, Haru and the currently comatose Seina.

The Eternal Mangekyou is something that both Uchiha brothers had made a pact with each other to get, but that doesn't make the guilt any less easy on Madara, despite the older Uchiha brother knowing that Izuna had wished for it, and that it is the only way to protect the clan.

Knowledge on the ultimate form of the Sharingan – the Eternal Mangekyou, wasn't really described or even talked about much in the Uchiha clan archives, and thus, Madara had to learn what he could by himself, even with Sayo's help. But even still, the redhead's Eternal Mangekyou wasn't a fully matured one as well, and Madara had wondered once about the side effects that the wielder might have once their Eternal Mangekyou had reached the fully matured stage, as the clan archives had stated something about that, only not in much detail.

As for Haru, Madara and Sayo both have their hands full with that little toddler.

The first few days after his father's death had the little toddler clinging to his mother, refusing to go anywhere or even to eat anything. It actually took every ounce of Sayo's persuasion skills in order to convince the little toddler to eat or to sleep. In fact, if someone ever tries to take Haru more than ten steps away from the currently comatose Seina, the little toddler would scream the place down. It got easier after a few months, but the only adults that Haru would let get near him are only Madara and Sayo. Any other adult who tried sans for Yuki would get an earful of a toddler's shriek.

**XXXXXX**

_Infirmary  
Uchiha Clan Enclave_

"Seina, I've gone to a village near the Water Country today," said Sayo, sitting by her best friend's bedside with Haru sitting by his mother. A collection of rather colourful stones and pebbles decorated the table next to Seina's bedside – one for each day that Sayo and Madara have visited which is almost every single day unless they have missions.

"It is a beautiful place, with the most beautiful waterfall that you could ever see in the village. The people of the village have some problems with some robbers who are apparently rogue ronins, and hired us to help them out. As the threat level wasn't that high, Hideki-sama sent me out alone instead. Madara wasn't too pleased about it. But then again, he never did like me taking on a mission without him. Kind of overprotective, isn't he?"

Sayo laughed humourlessly. She then turned serious, the hand clasped in Seina's limp one rubbing small circles with her thumb. "Things…have been different between us of late. In fact, it had been after Izuna's death. Maybe we've been spending too much time together, and that we're the ones who are Haru's guardians. It seems to me like I've started feeling something more for him than as just friends. It's like I get sad when he is unhappy. I am happy when he is happy. And when he is troubled, I want him to share that burden with me."

Sayo chuckled slightly. "If you are awake right now, you'll be teasing the hell out of me, and saying 'I told you so'. For as long as I could remember, you and Izuna both have always been trying to play matchmaker with Madara and me. That time with the first birthday that I've celebrated with you guys is proof enough." Sayo smiled a small smile before producing a small oval-shaped light blue pebble from her pocket before placing it on the bedside table to join the already large collection of pebbles on the table. "I took this from the village where I've gone to for my mission today. Once you wake up, I'll take you to see it. It's such a beautiful place. You'll love it for sure."

Seina didn't respond at all, and Sayo sighed. "Please, Seina… Won't you please wake up? If not for me, then for Haru. He needs his mother. Madara and I are not his parents, and we can't replace you, nor do we even want to. Haru needs his mother. Madara needs his sister-in-law. And I…" Sayo choked back a sob in her throat. "I…need my best friend by my side. Please, Seina. Please…wake up."

"Sayo."

Sayo turned around in her chair only to see a serious-looking Madara standing behind her. "…Madara."

Madara eyed the unconscious and prone form of his sister-in-law for several moments before sighing and turning back towards Sayo. "Father's calling," he said, tilting his thumb over his shoulder. "We've got a mission."

**XXXXXX**

Two hours later, both Sayo and Madara were travelling through the trees in the Fire Country, a scroll entailing the mission details safely tucked away in Madara's pocket, with another scroll written by Uchiha Hideki containing a message to be delivered to the leader of the village where the two were currently headed towards.

Apparently, the leader of a civilian village somewhere in eastern Fire Country was an old friend of the leader of the Uchiha clan, and he had written to Uchiha Hideki sometime back, informing him of a series of disappearances concerning several of the members of his village. The people in his village were worried and terrified for their family and friends, and have looked at outsiders with a wary eye since. The situation is getting worse of late, and that's the reason why he had asked Uchiha Hideki for help.

The trip was made with relative silence, and finally, the two dropped down from the trees, landing in front of a pair of elaborate looking ebony black gates which two guards wearing samurai amour whilst being armed with dangerous looking spears were standing in front of.

The two guards pointed their spears at Madara and Sayo as they made their appearances, suspicious looks on their faces. "Halt! State your names and business in Shometsu Village!"

Madara and Sayo exchanged glances before the former sighed, digging into his pouch before withdrawing a scroll, holding it in his right hand. "Uchiha clan's Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo. Both here on request from Igenaki Suibiki-sama to investigate the recent disappearances from Shometsu Village."

"Suibiki-sama?" The guard on the right who had a slightly friendly look to him uttered, lowering his spear slightly. "So you must be the guests that he had been expecting. May we look at the scroll?"

Madara nodded before tossing the scroll over to the guard, having more than enough sense to not approach them, as the air of enmity and suspicion around the village is nearly suffocating for the ninjas. Sayo was silent as she studied the village carefully from where she stood.

The village seemed rather wealthy and large, compared with most civilian villages. It also had several nice-looking houses made out of brick, instead of the wood or stone that the Uchiha clan uses to build their houses in their clan enclave, especially since brick is pretty difficult to get. And she had heard something that Madara had said about Shometsu Village being the main supplier and builder of bricks which is part of the reason why this village is so well-off.

Two chakra signals hit Sayo's senses just then; two chakra signals that she is quite well acquainted with at this point in time, and the redhead frowned to herself. What the hell are they doing here? One thing is for sure, it doesn't spell good news for them. Sayo then spoke, causing Madara and the two guards to turn their attention towards her.

"Madara. Incoming at two o'clock. Two of them."

Madara turned sharply at the same exact moment when two pairs of light footsteps sounded lightly behind them, and two shinobis – one who looked to be about eighteen and the other about seventeen years of age, both wearing ninja armours of red and blue respectively, were standing behind them.

Madara growled when he recognised them immediately, and Sayo didn't bother turning around as she knew who they were from when she had first sensed them, and didn't trust herself to not attack the older of the two on sight when she laid eyes on him.

The older looking one stepped forward, a dark green scroll in his hand, keeping a wary eye on Madara and Sayo. "Senju clan's Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. Both here on mission request from Nabiki Michio-san."

**

* * *

**_Village Chief's House  
Shometsu Village_

"Thank you for making it here at such short notice," said Igenaki Suibiki half-an-hour later as the two Uchiha ninjas were seated in the formal _seiza_ position in the sitting room of the house of the village chief, with a maid serving cups of tea for all three. The village chief was a man who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties with dark brown hair and green eyes, wearing an expensive looking black kimono with silver linings. "I wouldn't have troubled Hideki-san about this if it is something that I can handle on my own. But things have been getting out of hand of late."

"Yeah, Hideki-sama said something about that," said Sayo with a nod. "Can you at least start from the very beginning?"

"Very well," said Suibiki with a nod, setting his cup down. "It all really started six months ago. As you know, Shometsu Village is famous in Fire Country, as we built bricks for buildings, and we even delivered them to people who wished to purchase it. But as the resources to build bricks are expensive, not many people could afford it, but only the wealthiest. That's probably why, despite being a civilian village, we are so well-off here. About six months ago, one of the young men usually sent to deliver the bricks to a customer in Tanzaku-Gai never returned. He did deliver the bricks in pristine condition to the customer, as the customer, Gojou-sama, an extremely wealthy man who owned several restaurants and inns in Tanzaku-Gai sent a letter of appreciation to me regarding our service. When the young man didn't return after three days, I sent out people to look for him, but they never returned as well. And it was from that point that things started spinning out of hand. The series of disappearances began from there. First, it was young men and young women in the village. It was then followed by the children of the village. Only the young folks of the village disappeared. Olden folk like myself and several of the other adults in the village were never targeted. We've practically combed the entire countryside for them, but we've never found them. We're at a loss as to what to do, that is why I've contacted my old friend Hideki for help."

"And the two from the Senju clan?" Madara questioned with a frown. "Who hired them? I heard them mention something about a man named Nabiki Michio."

"Oh. Nabiki Michio is the village's doctor," said Suibiki with a small wan smile. "He holds considerable influence in the village, rather like myself, and he is a kind man, always with a nice smile for the children. He is a great help to alienate the fears of the children with all the recent disappearances. He is probably worried about the village as well, and that is probably why he hired those two from the Senju clan. I'm very sorry about that, as I knew the bad blood and history between both your clans, but please bear with them for now." He then sighed. "I'll give you both free reign to travel about the village, but I'm afraid that the villagers are a little high strung and wary around strangers because of the recent disappearances, so they won't be very helpful and friendly to you. I'll apologise for that in advance."

**XXXXXX**

Madara and Sayo started off on their investigation by getting a list of the people who have disappeared from the village chief, along with the estimated place where they have disappeared before the two settled down at the bench in the village square, going over what they knew.

Sayo frowned as she looked back and forth between the two lists. "Did you notice that the disappearances always occurred somewhere near that forest in the back of the village?" she asked, glancing towards said forest where the villagers of Shometsu Village were forbidden to venture towards, as it is said to contain dangerous beasts.

Madara sighed. "Yeah."

Before Sayo can say anything else, a voice interrupted their conversation. "Long time no see, Madara-san."

Both Uchihas looked up sharply only to glare at the speaker who turned out to be the older of the two Uchiha brothers. Madara clenched the hand that is currently resting on the bench that he is sitting on, clenching it into a tight fist so tightly that a crack actually appeared on the wooden bench.

"Senju Hashirama." Madara hissed the name out like it's a curse.

"Madara." Sayo placed one hand on his shoulder, effectively calming him down, though the guy still glared at the Senju brothers as if he would like nothing more than for them to drop dead. The redhead then turned back towards the Senju brothers. "Do you need anything?"

"W-Well, as you've probably heard from Suibiki-sama, we've here to investigate the series of disappearances as well." Senju Tobirama muttered nervously beneath Madara's venomous glare, scratching his cheek idly with one finger. "As we couldn't really find anything much on our own, we thought that four heads might be better than two."

Sayo frowned at the younger Senju heir. "You've proposing on a temporary truce then?" she questioned, and Tobirama nodded. "At least until we can get to the bottom of this."

Tobirama nodded. "That's right."

Sayo was silent for several moments.

She herself has no love lost for the Senju, especially with what had happened with Seina, and the last battle waged between both their clans. But on the other hand, it _is_ true that they need help with this current mission, as Sayo got a feeling that something simply doesn't add up. And as ninjas, they'll do all they need to do in order to complete this mission, even if she doesn't like the people whom she has to work with. There are a number within the Uchiha clan whom she can't stand as well, but she still has to force herself to work with them.

This…temporary truce, will at least last for as long as this mission last, as in the end, both the Uchiha and Senju clans are still enemies.

Sayo turned towards Madara. "Madara?"

Madara was silent for several moments as he glared. "Fine," he said at last. "But only for as long as this mission lasts."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Hashirama muttered.

Sayo sighed before pushing the two lists that she had been reading into Madara's hand and standing up. The latter stared at her. "I'm going to investigate a little around the village," she said. "Read through the lists for me, will you? Maybe you will see something that I've overlooked."

Madara nodded before his eye twitched when he saw that Senju Tobirama had followed Sayo as she walked down the road, and the redhead didn't say anything to prevent him from coming. A very small voice at the back of his head also told him that between the two Senju brothers, he'll pick the younger one anytime, as he hadn't been the one to cause his sister-in-law's current state.

Senju Hashirama then plopped himself down on the bench beside Madara, taking the seat where Sayo had been occupying moments prior, and Madara turned and glared at his sworn enemy, his fingers tightening around the two lists that Sayo had all but pushed into his hand earlier.

"Did I say that you could sit there?" he growled.

Hashirama smirked. "Still as sour and grumpy as ever, huh, Madara?" he stated, and Madara growled. "Calm down, would you? I won't attack you or anything during the course of this mission, so don't act like I'm about to stick a kunai in the back of your head or something."

"It wouldn't surprise me if you do." Madara muttered, turning his attention back to the two lists that Sayo had all but pushed into his hand, and trying to ignore Senju Hashirama.

"That girl with you…" Hashirama spoke suddenly, and Madara turned sharply towards the Senju heir who had a smirk on his face that Madara decided that he _didn't _like in the least. "Her name is Sayo, isn't it?"

"What is it to you?" Madara questioned, a warning tone creeping into his voice – a tone that promised extreme pain to the Senju heir if he should so much as touch one hair on Sayo's head.

Hashirama had obviously noticed that warning tone as well, as he seemed rather amused when he answered. "Nothing much," he said innocently which Madara didn't buy in the least. "And furthermore, that girl is good enough to actually keep up with me. A feat that no other Uchiha but you could do in the past. She's a seals master, isn't she? The first that there ever was, I do believe. A quite impressive feat as seals knowledge is rather difficult to attain. She had been rather famous among the Senju clan as well as all the other ninja clans lately, especially after our last fight."

Madara narrowed his eyes at his sworn enemy. He _really _didn't like that look in Senju Hashirama's eyes or even that tone of voice that he took. And he didn't like the fact that he seemed to have an interest in Sayo.

"Just stay away from her," he hissed.

Before either one of the two could say anything else, Sayo and Tobirama appeared, a list in the redhead's hand who was reading through it with a critical eye, before she then looked up. "Not much luck with us either," she reported, waving the list about in her hand, and Tobirama nodded. "But I've gotten some unexpected news on the doctor of the town and his apprentice."

At this, Hashirama stared. "Michio-san has an apprentice?" he echoed, and Tobirama nodded.

"Yeah, it surprised me as well." Tobirama admitted. "Apparently, that apprentice wasn't seen much as he was always cooped up in his lab in Michio-san's house studying or reading, or even doing some experimenting."

Madara shivered inwardly. That kind of came out wrong…

"And?" Hashirama raised an eyebrow.

"The doctor and his apprentice only came to this town a year ago." Sayo answered, and Madara's eyes widened when caught onto what Sayo was trying to say. "And six months later, the disappearances began. Too much of a coincidence, don't you think?"

Hashirama can only stare. "What are you saying? That the doctor is involved in this? He's the one who had asked for a mission request from us to investigate the disappearances currently happening in this village! Why would he do that if he is the mastermind behind it all?"

"To throw the doubt off him." Tobirama interrupted. He then sighed. "Nii-san, I didn't want to believe it too, but of now, he is the one who is the most suspicious."

"But…"

"Look underneath the underneath." Sayo interrupted. "It's an old ninja saying. Furthermore, the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." She then sighed. "This village…" She muttered. "Mura o shometsu. It literally means 'disappearing village'. Fitting name."

"Eh?"

Sayo sighed. "Think about it," she said. "There is something deeper to this whole entire affair. And I don't like the feeling that I get."

**XXXXXX**

_The Next Day  
Shometsu Village_

At the crack of dawn, one could find Uchiha Madara making his way towards a lone field in the village where the children of the village usually played at, but it is all but deserted now because of the recent disappearances, and that makes it appropriate for Madara to do what he has to do now.

The other three have separated throughout the village to gather some intelligence and information, and even though Madara didn't like the fact that Sayo is currently working together with Tobirama as it is probably not a good idea to put her with Hashirama, he knew that she could take care of herself.

Sighing, Madara then bit down on his thumb, drawing some blood and wiping it down onto the summon tattoo on his left wrist before he called out, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

There was a large plume of smoke before it cleared, revealing two summoned creatures standing in it's place – a red phoenix with a small number of golden feathers within its wings about two times the size of a normal sized eagle, as well as a cream coloured weasel slightly larger than that of a normal sized dog.

"What is it, Madara?" The phoenix spoke first of all with a mythical musical voice.

Madara sighed. "Sorry for calling you two out here at this time, Kousei, Sango," he apologised. "But I need your help. We got a mission, and I kind of need your help for this. Sango, can you sniff out which trails led out and in of this village the most, compared to all other trails?" He turned towards the weasel who nodded and scampered off immediately. He then turned back towards the phoenix. "We're not allowed to head into the forest at the back of this village, and it is the only place left for us to look, so can you take a look around it for me?" Kousei nodded. "Sayo is now gathering intelligence, and I don't really know what she might find out, but whatever that you can find in the forest might help."

Kousei quirked a phoenix eyebrow. "Sayo?" she quipped. "Oh. You must mean the Traveller."

Madara can only stare at this odd term. "Traveller?" he echoed. He is remarkably sure that Kousei had never met Sayo before as he rarely summons her, as Kousei is mainly used for scouting purposes.

"Well, it really isn't something that I should tell you, but maybe I should." Kousei mused before looking at Madara in the eye. "You know of her summons, the legendary Night Wolves, right? The ones who reign over dark and light." Madara nodded at that, having seen Sayo's summons once, and even he had to admit that they were a magnificent sight, magnificent looking, elegant looking and even intimidating as well. Together with his phoenix summons, Sayo's contract of the Night Wolves was one of the legendary summoning contracts. "The Night Wolves are close allies and friends of the phoenix clan, and they told us a bit about their first summoner." Kousei paused. "Uchiha Sayo is a Traveller. Someone who is not really of this time. She is a time traveller."

Madara can only stare at that. Huh? A time traveller? "A…time traveller?" he echoed. "As in, she doesn't really belong to this time at all? Which means that she came from another time? How the hell did she even manage such a feat?"

"Well yes, she is a time traveller." Kousei nodded. "And my guess is that it is one of the abilities of her Eternal Mangekyou, as one of her abilities is to manipulate space. That's why she can open portals, and appear here and there in the blink of an eye. Time travelling is all a matter of bending space, though she probably took it a little too far with what she had attempted, and ended up coming here. The summon clans of the legendary summon contracts are a manifestation of time itself, and that's why we knew about it when she came to this time. Us and the Night Wolves. But in order to come here, she has to give up something in order to exist in this world and time. In this case, her own identity of whomever that she used to be in her original timeline."

Madara nodded slowly, slowly understanding what Kousei is trying to tell him. "So that explains her memory loss," he muttered, and Kousei nodded.

"That's right," she said. "She can never remember her own past, as this is part of the price that she has to pay to travel through time with the Eternal Mangekyou. Dimensional rips…that is one of the abilities of her Eternal Mangekyou."

Madara sighed. "This is just great," he grumbled. He then got up. "Kousei, sorry to trouble you, but can you get going?"

Kousei nodded before taking off, and within moments, the phoenix was soon out of sight.

Before Madara can head back to the village to do some investigating, there is a loud poof before a plume of smoke appeared, and when it had dispersed, Madara saw a handsome looking wolf about the size of a fully grown dog with golden eyes with smoky grey fur standing in front of him, a red bandanna with the tribal markings of the Night Wolves on it tied around his neck.

Madara recognised that wolf immediately as he is one of the wolves that Sayo had summoned the most – the others being Tsuki, Taiyou, Shiri and Kane. And the five wolves mainly acted as messengers, trackers or even guards for their summoner, depending on what Sayo need them for, though they are actually combat wolves.

"Did Sayo send you?" asked Madara immediately, crouching down so that he could meet the wolf in the eye.

The wolf nodded. "I'm Atotori," he said. "Sayo sent me here to get you. She asked for you to head back to Suibiki-sama's house, stating that there are some new discoveries about the mission."

**

* * *

**_Village Chief's House  
Shometsu Village_

The Senju brothers along with Sayo were seated in the sitting room of the village chief's house, along with Sango, the weasel that Madara had summoned awhile ago, all with serious expressions on their faces, with Sayo reading through several lists in her hand, frowning to herself occasionally.

"What's up?" asked Madara slightly in confusion as Atotori walked up to Sayo, his claws clicking occasionally on the ground as he laid down on the ground, placing his head on his paws and seemingly going to sleep.

"Some information," said Tobirama, answering for Sayo. "We ran into your summon when we were investigating the entrance of the village, and all three of us came up with the same conclusion."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We'd better start from the beginning," said Sayo, looking up from the lists in her hand. "First, it's about that doctor's apprentice. Apparently, he's about eighteen or nineteen this year, an orphan boy whom the doctor had taken in several years back when one of the battles waged by the shinobi clans had practically destroyed the village that he had lived in."

"He's got quite a talent for the medical field, apparently, though he likes taking things apart and experimenting on things more than actual healing." Tobirama added. "That's why no one in the village actually saw him unless they go to the doctor's house. And even then, they probably wouldn't see him unless he shows himself."

"His name?"

"Kakuzu. No last name." Hashirama answered. "And here is when things start to get interesting."

"Oh?" Madara raised a brow.

"Yeah." Sayo nodded, looking up at Madara. "I've gotten Atotori here to trace smells for me at the entrance of the village. With all the disappearances lately, I wasn't actually hoping for much, but Atotori got one scent right off the bat almost immediately. And that scent actually led from the village right to the forest more than any other."

"And whose scent is that?" Madara asked slowly, though he had a fair idea who.

Sayo sighed. "Two scents," she said. "One, Atotori and Sango both recognised it as that doctor's, Nabiki Michio. The other is unknown, but I've got a gut feeling that it probably belongs to that Kakuzu guy."

"All the clues pointed to them both being the culprits," said Tobirama with a sigh. "But the village won't accept it unless we caught them red-handed, so should we go?"

"Yeah, and I think that I might have a chance to use these as well. I hadn't had a chance to test them out yet, and this might just prove to be the time for a test run," said Sayo, bringing out a tri-pronged kunai with tiny seals inscribed on it.

Madara's eyes widened when he recognised that kunai. He had seen Sayo making several of these throughout the past six months ever since she'd started studying more into space and time manipulation because of her ability to traverse portals, and he had wondered what that is for. Sayo had mentioned something about developing a new jutsu with speed that is almost god-like, and he had assumed that the kunai probably helps with that jutsu. And that probably also answers just why Sayo had been asking her wolves so much about how they were actually summoned to this world as well.

"Sayo, is that…?"

"Yeah," said Sayo, looking at the kunai in her hand with pride. "I've completed my jutsu at last. I name it…the Hiraishin."

**XXXXXX**

Tobirama felt as if he was about to puke, and beside him, his brother turned deathly pale. Madara grimaced, but tried to hold his breath for as long as he could so that he couldn't smell that strong smell. Beside him, Sayo was covering her nose with her hand, but was also looking around grimly.

It wasn't too difficult for the four to enter the forest without anyone in the village knowing as they were ninjas for a reason, and Madara's phoenix had flew up to them the moment that they've entered the forest, informing them that she had found an unusual and strange building in the village which gives off a feeling of unease, along with the strong stench of blood.

The four ninjas _had_ expected some blood, but not something like _this!_

Blood was splattered all over the stone walls and floors of this room that they were in, with not a single inch of this room being untouched by blood. And several circles which all four ninjas recognised as seals immediately were written all over the walls and floors with blood. The seals were fairly elaborate looking, and Madara recognised a few of the seal symbols as the symbols representing Heaven and Earth, with a few symbols being the symbols of the five main elements.

Beside him, Sayo was almost seething in anger when she ran her eyes over the seals. She had recognised what those seals were the moment that she had set her eyes on them as she wasn't a seals master for nothing. But she didn't imagine that someone will be crazy enough to do this to themselves!

"Kami-sama…" Tobirama muttered, his eyes wide.

Sayo closed his eyes before making her way across the room towards the door. "Let's go," she said. "If we go now, we might still make it in time."

"W-What do you mean, Sayo?" asked Tobirama as the three boys followed her.

"I recognised those seals," said Sayo grimly as she flung opened the door which opened with a resounding crash, and they walked through a dim passageway with barely any light to light the way up, but the four ninjas didn't let it bother them. "Those are the forbidden seals of Heaven and Earth, used in accordance together with a special ritual to gain a certain power. That power…is Immortality. But the ritual requires the blood and live sacrifices of young people, with children among them. I didn't think that anyone is insane enough to actually use it, as one seal drawn wrong, and the user could die. How could anyone be _sick _enough to sacrifice _children_ for something like this?"

The other three paled. "T-Then you mean…"

Sayo nodded as they came to the end of the passageway, and Sayo stopped in her tracks, one hand on the door. "The ritual…had already been completed."

And she opened the door.

**

* * *

**The first thing that all four ninjas saw was that of a darkened room with a dark skinned boy wearing only dark pants and sandals sitting in a chair with several tubes running in and out of his body, his head being covered a metal helmet of some sort with wires attached to it that ran to a machine not too far away. A man wearing a doctor's white coat which all four ninjas recognised as the doctor Nabiki Michio was cackling away insanely, tapping away on the machine who then looked up as the four ninjas entered.

"Doctor…Nabiki…" Hashirama uttered.

"I knew it…" Sayo muttered.

Madara was so angry with what Sayo had to say earlier that his eyes had unconsciously morphed into that of the Eternal Mangekyou, though not a fully matured one just yet, as it is that of a tri pinwheel in each eye.

"You're too late!" Michio smirked as he faced them, tapping onto a button on the machine before his apprentice stood up and wrenched the metal helmet off his head, revealing a pair of glowing yellow eyes, with what seemed like stitches on several parts on his body, several black tendrils flowing from those stitches. "The ritual is already over! I am the first who had ever created an immortal! All you ninjas would fall before the first immortal!"

"Man… There aren't many people who could piss me off like this guy." Tobirama muttered, eyeing Michio warily.

Madara growled low in his throat, keeping an eye on Kakuzu who had several black tendrils growing out of his hands as well. "Senju!" Both Senju brothers turned towards Madara. "Take care of that crazy scientist. Sayo and I will handle the other one."

Both Senju brothers nodded before turning back towards Michio. Tobirama's sharp eyes noticed a silver chain hanging around his neck with that of a black raven with outstretched wings hanging from it. "Our contract with you is hereby over." Hashirama hissed angrily, stretching out his right hand, and tree branches and vines soon started growing from the walls and floor, causing several cracks to appear. "We may be ninjas, and we might be paid to kill people, but we would _never _kill children! What you've done is sick beyond words!"

"I have no interest in fighting the both of you," said Michio with a nonchalant shrug. "I'm more interested in that Uchiha girl over there." Both brothers automatically turned towards where the two Uchihas were fending off against Kakuzu, but have to cut off the black tendrils from his limbs that threatened to kill them both unless they cut it off before it could even touch them. "Uchiha Sayo, is it?"

"Where are your eyes looking at?" Tobirama hissed, summoning his Raijin sword from a summoning scroll, focusing some chakra within it before an electric golden blade was formed from the green-blue cylinder in his right hand. _"We're _your opponents, and I can assure you that we'll be more of a match for you!"

Michio continued on as if Tobirama hadn't spoken at all. "That girl…and that doujutsu of hers… The Eternal Mangekyou of the Uchiha clan…as well as the legendary eye doujutsu of the first shinobi that she has. Interesting… Very interesting. I would really like a chance to experiment on it."

Madara and Sayo who weren't standing too far away heard what Michio had said, and both turned towards him in alarm only to spin their attention back towards Kakuzu when another attack was launched at them, forcing them both to jump backwards.

'_What the hell? How did he find out about it?'_

"How annoying…!" Madara growled as he leapt backwards and formed a number of handseals, ending with the tiger seal before inhaling and exhaling, calling out his jutsu as he did so, "Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu! (Fire Element: Dragon Fire Technique)"

A huge blast of white hot flames immediately burst forth from his lips, incinerating everything that it touches. And when the fire faded away, the eyes of both Uchihas widened when they saw that Kakuzu seemed to be considerably alright, save for the fact that he was slightly singed.

"No way! How could he still be alive after all that?" Sayo demanded.

"You're good alright," said Kakuzu calmly, eyeing his singed pants. "But it's too late. You see, after a recipient of that ritual had completed the ritual, for a few months during their 'new birth', they would practically be immortal and immune to all attacks. In other words, they would be at their most powerful during those few months. Once those few months are over, we then need to find new hearts to prolong our lives. Surely, someone like you who is well versed with seals would surely know that, Uchiha Sayo-san."

"How annoying." Sayo growled, her eyes spinning into her Eternal Mangekyou. Because her back was facing the Senju brothers, she wasn't worried about them seeing her doujutsu. "I really hate guys like you. You would even sink as low as to sacrifice children for your own needs?" Madara's eyes widened as Sayo's Eternal Mangekyou spun into that of a pinwheel in her left eye whilst a star shaped one appeared in her right one – evidence that her Eternal Mangekyou had fully matured. _"You make me sick!"_

The sound of kunais landing all around Kakuzu could be heard just then, before Sayo disappeared in a flash of red and black. Madara's eyes widened when he could barely see anything as Sayo attacked Kakuzu mercilessly, seemingly determined to hit every inch of him. He couldn't see anything at all except for blurs as Sayo just moved so damn fast. Only Sayo could think of coming up with a jutsu like this that manipulated space and time. When he had told Sayo to 'get faster' that day six months ago, he wasn't expecting this literally.

Madara blinked when there was a loud thud and Kakuzu was tossed against the wall next to him, with a very furious looking Sayo in front of him, one of her special kunais in her hand next to his neck, practically creating cracks in the wall. In the usual way, Sayo is rather apathetic, and rarely loses her cool. But once she actually does, she gets rather scary.

"Any last words?" Sayo hissed, her eyes flashing with anger.

Kakuzu smirked, showing a row of very impressive shark-like white teeth. "Only one," he said. "Boom."

Madara's eyes widened in horror before he lunged at Sayo, knocking her to the ground, and rolling away from Kakuzu. "Sayo!"

And just in time, it seems like, as there was a loud explosion from where Sayo was standing at moments prior, and a large fireball cooked the entire area of the darkened room where Sayo and Kakuzu were standing moments prior. On the other end of the room, both Senju brothers turned around and have to cover their faces from the hot flames.

Madara and Sayo then narrowed their eyes when they saw the unmistakable form of Kakuzu emerging from the flames, seemingly unscathed, and the former closed his eyes. "I really didn't want to use this, but I have no other choice now. I don't want to die from being too stubborn after all, and I won't let you hurt Sayo." He then opened his eyes, his Eternal Mangekyou morphing from a tri pinwheel into that of a pinwheel shaped Sharingan in his left eye whilst a star shaped one appeared in his right one – that of a fully matured Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

Before the eyes of everyone present, a strange shape began forming into that of a massive ethereal skeleton standing between Kakuzu and the two Uchihas, with an ethereal robe and mask covering the spiritual being. Two fearsome glowing golden eyes formed in between the teeth of this giant monstrosity.

"Meet one of the most powerful techniques of the Mangekyou of the Uchiha." Madara stated. "The Susanoo." He then turned towards Sayo who was still being cradled in his arms, and he almost blushed at that when he saw their current position. "Sayo, I'll get Susanoo to guard you. Get him."

Sayo nodded before standing up, throwing another of her tri-pronged kunais towards Kakuzu before she disappeared in a blur of red and black. Not even a moment later, the kunai in Sayo's hand couldn't seem to penetrate Kakuzu's skin, and she growled. Was what he said earlier true? That until that 'new birth' period had ended for Kakuzu as a result of that ritual, he is practically immune to all their attacks? If so, then how the hell are they going to defeat him?

"I've told you that it's useless!" said Kakuzu with a smirk, his hand latching out, ready to rip Sayo's heart out of her chest, but he was immediately thwarted from this attempt by the Susanoo warrior that wrapped Sayo up within its ethereal body. "I see… Very interesting indeed. He was right about you after all. Raven's Gate had been right about you all along."

"What?"

Sayo can only stare. _'Raven's Gate?'_

"I guess I really should retreat for now," said Kakuzu. "But I'll look forward to another battle with you both…Flash Goddess…Honoo no Madara. We'll meet again one day, and on that day, your lives will be mine."

He then vanished.

"'Flash Goddess', huh?" Sayo mused before smiling to herself. "It's a nice name."

There was a very long silence after that before Madara vanished Susanoo, and his eyes then morphed back into its usual onyx black, and he sighed. He then turned towards the Senju brothers. "Hey, how's it on your end?"

"We're done." Tobirama called out, the lightning blade in his hand vanishing, eyeing the numerous roots and tree branches that had all but suffocated the insane doctor by bounding him tightly within the trees. "Can't say that he put up much of a fight though." He then sighed. "With that, I guess that it's mission complete."

**XXXXXX**

_Outskirts of Shometsu Village  
Fire Country_

"With that, we'll be heading back to our clan then," said Tobirama, with all four ninjas currently up in the trees, all ready to head back to their individual clans. "It's sure a pleasant experience working with you guys. Maybe we'll get to work together again one of these days."

Sayo chuckled. "I wouldn't count on that," she said. "We might have worked together for the sake of the mission this time around, but in the end, our clans are still enemies."

"Well, a guy can hope," said Tobirama with a smile. "We'll get going."

Both Uchihas nodded before the Senju brothers took off into the trees. Sayo and Madara then exchanged looks. "This mission…is actually a bit of a surprise," said Madara slowly, and Sayo nodded, agreeing with him. "And that Kakuzu guy…I don't think that we've seen the last of him yet."

"But there's one thing that I don't understand as well," said Sayo with a frown. "That doctor…Nabiki Michio, is it? How did he even find out about my Sharingan? Even in the Uchiha clan, not everyone knew that my doujutsu is that of a mix between the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. The only ones who do are you, Seina and Hideki-sama. And I doubt that you three would tell anyone else. And also…'Raven's Gate'…" Sayo looked at Madara. "What is that? What _are _they?"

Madara frowned for a long time before answering. "Seems like someone has been interfering with us," he said slowly, and Sayo sighed.

"No shit."

Madara then sighed. "Let's go home. We can worry about this later."

He then took off.

Sayo sighed and looked over her shoulder at the gates of Shometsu Village before taking off after Madara as well. Not even a few seconds after they were gone, the image of the village seemed to ripple and bulged before a deserted village rather like that of a ghost town with broken and destroyed buildings with debris all over the ground, with destroyed gates, was standing in the place of Shometsu Village. And the sign that read 'Mura o Shometsu' at the front gates soon morphed into that of a picture of that of a black raven with outstretched wings on it.

* * *

_A/N: I hope that it is not too rushed for this chapter. Also, this is the __**final **__time that I'm going to answer this question. Kyuubi is __**not **__in Sayo any longer. If you've read the first chapter, you would have read that the Akatsuki had extracted Kyuubi from Sayo, but Nagato didn't let Sayo die from the sealing. There will be a time skip next chapter, and the Raven's Gate mentioned in this chapter will make an appearance. I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_**One Last Hope (Naruto)**_

_AU FemNaru. The attack on the village by Akatsuki had greater repercussions than expected, and war was soon declared on the elemental nations by the Choushuu. Desperate to at least save whatever lives that she could, Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage sent three of her best ninjas to Kyoto to seek the help of the Shinsengumi - Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Hinata and Namikaze Sayo. Naruto/Hakuoki crossover. Saitou/FemNaru_

_**The Will to Protect (Naruto)**_

_FemNaru. With the aftermath of the Akatsuki attack, the Council of Elders and the Fire daimyo, with an overruled voting to select the next Hokage, picked one Namikaze Sayo, the Hokage's right hand and ANBU captain as the Rokudaime Hokage. Shikamaru/FemNaru_

_**The Ice Princess of Rikkaidai: Life in America (Prince of Tennis)**_

_Prequel of TIPoR. Ever wondered what Echizen Rika's life in America is like prior to Rikkaidai? Join the crazy adventures of the St. Andrew's tennis team, and learn just why the team loves their vice-captain so much. _

_**A New Name, A Different Life (Harry Potter)**_

_AU FemHarry. Hilda Potter is the much forgotten twin of the famous Boy-Who-Lived. When Remus Lupin and Sirius Black overheard a conversation between the Potter parents and Dumbledore to place Hilda with the Dursleys, they then took it upon themselves to take Hilda away to Lily's distant cousin, Natori Shuuichi, who then decided to raise Hilda as Natori Hikari, his younger sister. HP/Natsume Yuujinchou crossover. Hikari/Tanuma_


	7. Toshigaki Hiore

**Trivia about the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan:**

About the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it _will not _cause blindness. According to canon, it is the Mangekyou Sharingan that _will _cause blindness, _not _the Eternal Mangekyou. The side effect of having attained the Eternal Mangekyou apart from new abilities unique to each wielder of the Eternal Mangekyou is _immortality. _At least it is in this story.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Toshigaki Hiore**

Two years after that little joint mission with the two heirs of the Senju clan could see all the wars and battles going on between all the different shinobi clans – big or small – getting worse by the day.

It was especially worse for the bloodline wielding clans like the Uchiha, Hyuuga and the Senju, as enemies surrounded them from just about everywhere. As such, it was especially worse for the smaller and minor shinobi clans. A number of those clans were just about wiped out by the numerous battles that took place among the several different shinobi clans.

The cove in the Uchiha clan enclave where the clan had enshrined all their deceased were being added with more and more bodies each day. The majority of the battles that the Uchiha clan had with their enemies were mainly with the Senju clan of the Forest. The strength and numbers of both clans were equal, and superior to none. And as many clan members as the Uchiha clan lost, so did the Senju clan.

The war between the two clans was also extremely taxing and exhausting on the clan members, particularly some of the top combat shinobis in the Uchiha clan – Hideki, Madara and Sayo. The first is the Uchiha clan head with a fearsome enough reputation as it is. The second is the Uchiha clan heir who is slowly building quite a reputation for himself in the shinobi world. The third is the tactician and the first seals mistress ever in the shinobi world.

**XXXXXX**

_Infirmary  
Uchiha Clan Enclave_

"Seina, the war and battles with the Senju clan had been getting worse as of late." Sayo sighed, brushing the hair off of her best friend's forehead. With the two years that had passed ever since Seina is in a coma, her once raven-coloured shoulder length hair had grown long, and had almost reached her waist. "The dead have been slowly building up. And it is especially worse if a child is brought back in a body bag. I really wish that there is a way to put a stop to all these battles."

"It wasn't your fault, and you know that," said a grave voice, and Sayo turned only to see Madara walking towards her, looking tired out and covered with cuts and scrapes, with dark rings beneath his eyes like he hadn't slept for days.

Madara wasn't the only one tired out these days.

Sayo had also been worked to the bone for the past week or so, looking through maps and trying to come up with a plan for a course of action for the Uchiha clan members with the least causalities and sacrifices possible during all their scuffles and battles with their enemies.

Madara came up behind Sayo and studied Seina's comatose form for several moments before sighing. "It is only thanks to you that we hadn't lost as many people that we did in the past."

Sayo smiled weakly at Madara, rubbing small circles on Seina's currently still hand, not knowing if that action is to comfort herself or Seina. "You're just saying that to make me feel better," she mumbled.

"No, I'm serious." Madara insisted, pulling out a chair and sitting down in it beside Sayo. "I can say this with certainty. I grew up whilst being involved in all kinds of battles and wars. I know pain and suffering. We never had a tactician in the clan before. And neither did all the other shinobi clans. Before your arrival, we usually lost more than half of the number of our losses now. You saved the lives of all those that are still alive now. And trust me, they _are _thankful to you."

Sayo was silent.

In a way, she knew that Madara is right. She had only first realised that she had a tactical brain for battles and wars during that mission two years ago when they have first ran into the Senju clan during their mission to destroy the castle. She had then slowly developed a brain for strategies and tactics by reading ever single record or book that the Uchiha clan ever had on all their past battles. And she also knew that a tactician must never think that they have failed, and that whatever they did is for the best, and had saved people's lives.

"Putting that aside…" Sayo trailed off, looking from Seina to Madara and back again before sighing. "Did you notice it yet?"

Madara raised a brow as he looked at Sayo before turning to look at Seina's comatose form before he sighed deeply, understanding what Sayo had meant, and he nodded wearily. "Yeah," he said wearily. "I was hoping that the others in the clan hadn't noticed just yet, with the battles against the Senju clan in full swing for the past year or so, and seeing as how we're about the only ones who visited Seina on an everyday basis…" He trailed off.

Sayo was silent for several moments before speaking again. "Seina hasn't aged since that day when Senju Hashirama had injured her seriously enough for her to lapse into a coma ever since," she stated in a low voice so that Madara is the only one who can hear her, though it isn't like there is anyone else in the infirmary. But Sayo isn't taking any chances. "I don't know the reason for it, but her body hasn't aged since that day."

"It's not just Seina," said Madara seriously. He looked at Sayo straight in the eye as he spoke. "Us too. We haven't aged since that day as well. We still look like we're eighteen and seventeen respectively." He sighed. "I think that it had something to do with the Eternal Mangekyou that we both have, and the fact that ours are fully matured ones, and that we've gained full control over the abilities of the Eternal Mangekyou."

Sayo nodded. "Yeah, I was worried that something like this might happen," she admitted. She then sighed. "And I don't know about you, but maybe it is for the best if we fake Seina's death and get her away from here. The clan kicked up such a fuss when you've attained your Eternal Mangekyou that if you hadn't been the clan heir and the clan head's son, they would have probably excommunicated you from the clan. If they knew about Seina's condition, I am almost afraid to think of what they would do."

Sayo sighed. "People fear things that they do not understand. But most importantly of all, the one thing that all humans feared above all else is Death. They fear Death itself. I can make a guess that not aging meant that we probably won't die from old age, and if others find out about it, they are going to want that power for themselves, and that might put us in danger. I trust Hideki-sama and a few select members of the clan, but there are also some in the clan that…well…you know…" Sayo trailed off, and Madara nodded.

"Yeah, I get where you're coming from," he said seriously. "When our doujutsus have reached the fully matured stage during that battle with that insane doctor and his apprentice from Shometsu Village, I had noticed that time…seemed to have stopped for us. But we can always say that we're using an elaborate genjutsu to hide our true ages." He smiled at Sayo tentatively. "I _do _specialise in genjutsu after all, and you are pretty competent in genjutsu. But Seina…" He breathed. "We couldn't explain it away for Seina."

Madara gave a start when he felt a weight slumped against his shoulder just then, and he turned only to see Sayo leaning with her head against his shoulder. "S-Sayo?"

"Sorry," she uttered, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "Just let us stay this way for just a few moments." Sayo was silent for several moments before she spoke again. "I'm really tired. All these battles and fights. When is it going to ever end? And I can't help but worry about Seina. It has been two years since she had been in a coma, and she still show no signs of ever awaking. I'm really afraid that I may just walk in here one day only to find out that she had died in her bed. Haru is also already two years old. He kept asking me about his mother and when she would wake up. And I don't even know what to answer him. It's cruel. Making a child wait like this."

Tears fell from Sayo's eyes as she spoke, with the redhead turning her head away so that Madara couldn't see her crying. "It's difficult enough for me…for you… If it is for us, then what is it like for Haru? He's only a child. Barely old enough to walk on his own. He shouldn't have to deal with all these. It is us who should protect him until he is old enough to do it on his own. I promised Seina and Izuna that I would protect Haru. But…" She breathed. "It had already been two years, and yet, nothing had changed. I'm starting to believe that Seina may just never wake up."

Madara sighed before a small smile tugged at the ends of his lips. "Two years, huh?" he mused. "It has really been that long ever since you've came here?" He looked at Sayo and gently took her left hand in his, an action that gave Sayo a start, but she didn't pull away from Madara. The Uchiha heir then examined her hand solemnly, holding it up in the sunlight slightly. "I remember that you sure gave me and Izuna a start when we've discovered you in the Sun Forest on that day two years ago. Who knows that things will come to this today when you're one of the most famous kunoichis ever known in the shinobi world now when even male ninjas feared your name when kunoichis are generally not very respected?"

Sayo smiled tentatively at Madara. "Yeah, who knows…" she muttered. She then pushed herself off of Madara's shoulder and studied Seina's form for several moments before turning back towards Madara. "Tonight."

Madara understood what Sayo was saying and nodded. "Tonight," he agreed.

**

* * *

**That night when it is well past midnight, one can find Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo creeping into the infirmary silently without anyone noticing. Both are highly skilled ninjas who are trained for infiltration and information gathering purposes after all, despite both specialising in combat and demolition instead. Both ninjas have left a kage bunshin behind in their individual rooms so that no one would find it suspicious that they're left their beds.

Sayo is no medic-nin, but Seina who is a highly accomplished medic-nin had taught her enough of her trade for Sayo to know the standard healing and blood transfusion procedures, along with the eye implantation procedure that she had performed on Madara and Izuna two years ago. Another aspect of the medical trade that Seina had taught her is the method to create fake corpses.

And that knowledge in creating fake corpses is what Sayo is most thankful for right now as she set to work to make a fake corpse identical to Seina's in every way before placing it in the hospital bed that the real person had been occupying before Madara hoisted his sister-in-law onto his back silently.

The first part of their mission done, both Uchiha ninjas then crept out of the Uchiha clan enclave silently.

The two already knew where to hide Seina.

Two years ago when Seina and Izuna are still alive and well, the four have accidentally came across a secret cove of some sort near the sea area of the Moon Country where they have rested up from their injuries. All four have agreed that it will be their little secret spot known only among themselves, and that is where Madara and Sayo have decided to hide Seina.

Also, it helps that Moon Country is well known for its moon flowers and alluring moonlight, rumoured to have mysterious healing properties, and both Uchihas secretly hoped that that this will help Seina to wake from her coma.

**XXXXXX**

"I hope that no one will find Seina in there." Sayo was saying to Madara on the return route back to the Uchiha clan enclave whilst hopping through the trees.

Madara glanced at Sayo over his shoulder before focusing on the route in front of him. Travelling through the trees at night is always a little difficult because of the darkness, and they have to literally rely on their other senses so that they do not crash into a tree.

"You've put up the strongest barrier seals that you have around her." Madara stated. "I trust in your abilities in sealing as I hadn't heard of anyone being able to breach the seals that you've made thus far. Seina will be fine as long as she stays within that barrier of yours."

"I hope so," said Sayo with a sigh. She then frowned as her chakra senses caught something, and her eyes widened when she saw a flash of bright silver light heading towards Madara, and her instincts caused her to leapt straight at Madara immediately, knocking him out of the path of that silver light. "Madara!"

"What the—?" Madara could barely choke out a complete sentence in surprise as he felt Sayo lunge at him, effectively sending the both of them plummeting straight down to the ground. Not even a few seconds after that, there was a loud explosion that completely obliterated the tree branches of the trees above their heads, and pieces of oak and tree bark came raining down onto their heads.

"As expected of you," said a voice, and both Uchihas looked up only to see a slim slender teen who don't look to be much older than them floating, yes, _floating, _down to the ground in front of them.

The teen was actually a rather handsome male teen who looks to be about nineteen or so with silky chin-length black hair that fell down around his face perfectly, with mesmerising electric blue eyes that looked to be out of the world. He was also dressed in a black collared shirt with the two bottom-most buttons unbuttoned, exposing a part of his abdomen, also wearing a pair of grey coloured bottoms with black combat boots instead of the ninja sandals that most ninjas wore. A long silver chain was also wound around his body – reaching from his left shoulder to his right waist where a sword sheathe was vaguely visible on his back, and a black choker of that of a pendant of a black raven with outstretched wings hanging from it was also visible around his neck.

Madara narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he had one hand onto the hilt of his sword on his back, ready to draw it within a moment's notice, with one hand pushing Sayo back slightly, the latter who also had one hand on the hilt of her sword as well, the other reaching for her kunai pouch, touching the handle of one of her Hiraishin kunais.

"Who are you?" Madara asked warily.

"Toshigaki Hiore," came the answer, though he spoke with a rather strange accent to it. The guy then smirked at the two. "I really don't wish to do this the hard way, so would you come with me quietly, Uchiha Sayo-san?"

Both the two Uchihas drew out a weapon at that, eyeing Hiore warily.

There is something about this guy that simply screams danger, and Sayo _definitely_ didn't like that look in his eyes. The redhead then frowned as she eyed that choker that he is wearing. She is pretty sure that she had seen something like that somewhere before…

"What do you want Sayo for?" Madara demanded, placing himself in front of Sayo, much to her annoyance. "Just who are you?"

"Let's just say that I need your lady companion for something, and I'll appreciate it if you would come along quietly without a fuss, as I really do not want to harm you," said Hiore almost mockingly, giving a low bow to Sayo.

Madara frowned. "You must be joking or high on something if you think that I'm going to let Sayo go with you!" he growled.

There was a low caw just then, and Sayo looked up only to see a flash of black before a black raven came swooping down from the skies and landed onto Hiore's arm, stretching its wings, blinking its black beady eyes at the two Uchihas. Sayo can only stare at the raven for a very long time before something in her memory clicked, and she remembered something that that immortal guy, Kakuzu, had said during their mission to Shometsu Village.

_He was right about you after all. Raven's Gate had been right about you all along._

'_Raven's Gate?' _Sayo thought, her mind working furiously. _'A raven?' _She looked at the raven on Hiore's arm to the pendant hanging from his choker. _'"He"? Raven's Gate… Could he be the 'he' that that Kakuzu guy was talking about two years ago?'_

"Raven's…Gate…" said Sayo slowly, and both males turned towards her. She then tightened her hands into fists by her sides before eyeing Hiore. "Tell me one thing. Are you the 'he' that the Kakuzu fellow was talking about two years ago? And that ritual that Nabiki Michio had performed using the sacrifices of several young people and children in Shometsu Village two years ago… No normal person would know that ritual. Even I only knew about it after I've bought a highly sought after book on seals and forbidden seals from a vendor in the black market two years ago which I've paid a fortune for." Sayo narrowed her eyes. "And even then, I only knew about that ritual because of the seals used. The forbidden seals of Heaven and Earth. Just…who are you? And what do you want with me?"

The smirk on Hiore's face widened, though a dark expression was behind that look. "You've sure got a good memory, remembering something from that long ago," he stated. "If you're asking about Raven's Gate, then I guess I can tell you that _I'm _the leader of that little organisation. And those two that you're talking about? They are actually one of my subordinates, though I should say _was _for one of them. You sure did a number on Kakuzu as he nearly died from his injuries despite him being near indestructible because of the ritual."

"How did you find out about Sayo?" Madara demanded, his memory clicking in after Sayo had mentioned that mission. "Those two shouldn't have known about Sayo's doujutsu! How did you find out about it?"

"What? That Rinnegan of hers?" Hiore stated casually, and Sayo narrowed her eyes dangerously. So he really _did _know about it. "Don't look so surprised. I do have my ways of knowing what I did. I need Uchiha Sayo and her Rinnegan to get to the Juubi's main body in the moon."

Madara can only stare at Hiore like he had suddenly gone mad and had suddenly grown two new heads. "Huh? Juubi? The moon?"

"The Rikudo Sennin of legends, the father of all shinobi, sealed the body of the Juubi, the first tailed beast ever into the moon which he had created, and separated the soul of the Juubi. That soul soon became known as what we now know today as the tailed beasts – the demons of Pandemonium. They represent Death and Destruction. Pain and Desperation." Sayo stated, narrowing her eyes, knowing what she knew about the Juubi and the Rikudo Sennin from her studies into sealing. "The Juubi's body… You're after that?"

"I don't really understand it, but why are you after Sayo then?" Madara demanded.

"She holds the key to getting to the Juubi's body which is located in the moon." Hiore stated. "Only the Rinnegan of legends can open a path to the moon. And you are coming with me, whether you like it or not."

Without warning, a horde of black flames with shapes of demon entities within it were launched at Madara just then who was so surprised that he couldn't seem to move an inch.

"Madara!"

Madara suddenly found himself knocked to the ground as a body covered his, and a light scream pierced through the air. When the Uchiha heir managed to notice his surroundings, he discovered to his horror that Sayo had protected him from Hiore's attack by shielding him with her own body, resulting in her having suffered serious looking burns on the back, and several patches of the back of her shirt was also gone, exposing raw and red skin.

"Sayo!"

"I-I'm alright!" Sayo hissed out, clutching at her shoulder with one hand. "Just get him!"

Madara hissed before standing up, and Hiore smirked.

Without warning, Hiore then suddenly lunged out with several taijutsu moves towards Sayo, but was stopped by Madara grabbing hold of his arm. The Uchiha heir grunted as he was pushed backwards, but he gritted his teeth and held onto his grip.

"You…are _joking _if you think that I'm letting you get your hands on Sayo!" Madara hissed before drawing out his sword and slashing at Hiore who back flipped.

Behind him, Sayo managed to get to her feet, though albeit shaking, and she stepped up to him.

"Madara, lure him to an open space." Sayo whispered into his ear, drawing out two of her Hiraishin kunais and a strange blue orb that Madara knew was some object that Sayo uses for her sealing arts. "I've got an idea, but I need a wide open space to do it."

Madara nodded without taking his eyes off of Hiore in front of him. "I don't really get what is going on here, but I think that it'll be major bad news if he should ever get to the moon," he muttered, feeling rather stupid at the way that he had phrased his words. "Besides, it'll be dawn in a few hours. We have to get back to the clan enclave before then."

Sayo nodded. "You've got that right. Lure him to an open space. Two miles west at the two o'clock position. Near the sea area."

Madara nodded. "Leave that to me."

Sayo nodded before stepping backwards, closing her fingers around the blue orb in her hand and began muttering something beneath her breath before the orb glowed with a strange blue light. Madara then placed his blade flat before him, sending his chakra into the sword before flames surrounded the entire blade and he then slashed at the air, sending a whirl of flames straight at Hiore who barely dodged the white hot flames which easily melted the ground and the trees where he had been standing at moments prior, turning it into black goo.

"Man, that was close." Hiore muttered, glancing at where he had nearly been cooked alive earlier before he turned back towards an enraged looking Madara. He then frowned. "I guess your name 'Honoo no Madara' isn't just for show." He muttered, drawing out his sword as well, revealing a pure black blade with silver talon-like claws circling around the guard of the sword. "I've heard of your prowess, and I'm guessing that I can't take you easy."

Madara growled. "You will only get Sayo over my dead body!" he growled, sending another whirl of flames towards Hiore, with the flames circling around him like it had a life of it's own, and Hiore did the smartest thing which he could think of at present, which is to flee! Madara then smirked inwardly as he directed his flames. _'Good. If I can just get him towards the sea area, then Sayo can work her magic.' _He thought, running after Hiore, vaguely aware of Sayo who is keeping well behind him.

The cliffs of the sea soon came into view, and Madara then directed his flames to form a barrier of fire around Hiore, hereby barricading him in. Madara was breathing heavily by this point in time since chakra elemental manipulation of this level into his sword which is heavily chakra infused like Sayo's sword isn't an easy thing to do.

"What are you thinking of doing, luring me to such a place?" Hiore asked with a frown, glancing at Madara whilst eyeing the ends of his singed sleeves. "If I recall, most of your techniques require a large open area. Barricading yourself into a place like this…you're only limiting what you yourself could do."

Madara panted heavily before smirking. "Don't worry about me," he said. "I didn't lure you here so that I can engage into a close ranged battle with you. I lured you into the barrier of flames so that you can't escape." He then smirked, and Hiore tensed up. "Sayo, are you ready?"

"Yeah!" said Sayo, and a part of the air rippled and bulged before falling away to reveal Uchiha Sayo standing behind Madara, with a gleaming blue orb clutched in her right hand. "Thanks for the help, Madara. You've distracted him enough for me to work my magic."

"W-What do you mean?" Hiore stammered.

"Hiore, you should really have brought some backup or even be prepared for anything when you knew that you're going to deal with a seals master," said Sayo darkly. "Madara and I combined could probably kill you. But unfortunately, we don't have the time to do that right now. Thus, the next best thing for me to do is to seal you away for good."

Six blue glowing spots appeared all around Hiore just then, and the orb that Sayo is holding glowed even brighter before a seemingly barrier of light appeared around Hiore, with the lights crisscrossing over each other.

"W-What is this?"

"This is a special sealing orb that I had commissioned some time back by a chakra master who specialises in creating special chakra objects," said Sayo, holding out the blue orb in her hand. "It enables me to put up seals around an individual just by focusing my chakra into the place where I want it to be. Thus, I didn't have to draw the seals out myself in order to seal you away. Goodbye, Toshigaki Hiore." A small smirk then tugged at the ends of Sayo's lips. _"Tsuiho Shiru. (Banishment Seal)"_

A loud scream that echoed throughout the countryside was all that anyone could hear for miles after that.

**XXXXXX**

_Uchiha Clan Enclave  
Fire Country_

"Man, what is that all about?" Madara muttered as they literally flew through the trees. Dawn was breaking, and he knew that they have to hurry back to the enclave before anyone discovered that they're missing.

"Just forget about it and whatever plans that he had in store for the Juubi," said Sayo with a sigh, rubbing her shoulder with one hand and hissing slightly whenever she pulled onto her injuries. "I've managed to seal him away, and that's more than good enough, though it bothers me about his plans. If it's true that he had an organisation under him…"

"Yeah." Madara nodded darkly. "We have to be on the lookout for this 'Raven's Gate' organisation then. Something tells me that they're major bad news, and it'll be bad if we don't stop them and their crazy plans for the moon."

Sayo almost sweat dropped. "Not the moon, Madara. The Juubi," she corrected, and Madara threw his arms up in frustration.

"Whatever!"

Both Uchihas then dropped down from the trees and headed towards the entrance of the Uchiha clan enclave before being greeted by some random kunoichi in the clan. "Have you both been doing morning training together again?" she questioned before Madara and Sayo exchanged looks. "Oh well. It's really none of my business. Hideki-sama had been looking for you both. Apparently, it's quite urgent, and you both had better get going."

**

* * *

**_Clan Head's House  
Uchiha Clan Enclave_

"Father, did you call for us?" asked Madara after knocking on the door to announce his presence and stepping in through the doorway after pushing opened the door, with Sayo close behind him.

Uchiha Hideki was sitting in the _seiza _position in the sitting room, drinking some tea with a scroll sitting in front of him. "Ah. Madara. Sayo. Come in." Hideki looked up as Madara and Sayo sat down in front of him. He then raised a brow as Sayo had a pained expression on her face every now and then. "Sayo, did Madara went a little rough when you were both sparring?"

"Erm… Kind of." Sayo muttered.

"You should go and get Yuki to have a look at it earlier," said Hideki, and Sayo nodded. "But more importantly, I've called you both here for something of importance."

"What is it?"

"I've received this scroll this morning from a messenger of the Senju clan of the Forest," said Hideki, holding up the scroll sitting in front of him. "After reading the contents of the scroll, I held a meeting with the clan council, and although we are still considering what to do about the proposal, I decided to let you know about it first before an official declaration will be announced to the rest of the clan later."

Sayo raised an eyebrow. "Hideki-sama, what is the message from the Senju clan?" she asked curiously.

"They are proposing an alliance, a union of some sort," said Hideki gravely, and the two younger ninjas in front of him blinked owlishly. "Apparently, all the battles and the war carrying on for the past year or so with all the shinobi clans had been extremely taxing on the Senju clan and their members, and the Senju clan had finally decided that they had enough. This is a proposal by the Senju heir himself who will be succeeding his father as the clan head soon. Apparently, Senju Hashirama had the idea to start a shinobi village in Fire Country to unite all the shinobi clans, instead of having all the clans fighting among ourselves like cats and dogs."

Madara nearly sweat dropped. "Did he really write 'cats and dogs' in there?" he asked.

Hideki ignored his son as he continued speaking. "A proposal had been sent to every shinobi clan in Fire Country, and from what we knew, the Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka clans have accepted their proposal. And if those three clans have accepted, then it wouldn't be long before most of the shinobi clans in Fire Country accept that proposal for a union from the Senju clan. And it didn't help that the Senju clan is one of the most powerful and influential shinobi clans in Fire Country. Even as good as we are, we don't stand a chance of surviving if we go up against all the shinobi clans in Fire Country should we reject this proposal."

Madara was silent for several moments before speaking. "Why are you asking me about it when it is clear that you had already agreed to it, Father?" he asked, speaking with an angry tone. "What, has the clan already forgotten about all the deaths that have been attributed to the Senju clan of the Forest? They're our enemies! Or have you forgotten about that already?"

Hideki sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. "Madara, I'm not getting any younger. And like with the Senju heir, you're about to succeed me as the clan head soon as well, since you're fast approaching your twentieth birthday," said Hideki wearily. "You have to understand that even as much as I don't like the idea that we have to ally ourselves with our greatest enemy and rival, I have to think about the welfare and lives of the rest of the clan as well. We've been fighting and engaging ourselves in countless wars and battles even before you were born. Everyone is tired. All the countless battles throughout the years have been extremely taxing on all of us, both emotionally and physically. Besides, I'm sure that even you can see it. And I know that Sayo had, seeing as how she's our tactician – the first that there ever was. We're fighting a losing battle here, as we're losing more and more clan members with each passing day. To protect the clan and our bloodline, we'll probably have to accept that union proposal of the Senju clan, and to help found this new village that they're planning on naming Konoha (Tree of Leaves)."

There was silence for a very long time before Sayo spoke up. "I don't like the idea of it," she said at last. "I agree that it's probably best for the clan this way, as I don't want to see Haru grow up the way that we did. But what will happen in the long run? The Senju clan had never trusted us. And if the running of this shinobi village is left to them and to Senju supporters, then what is to say that the Uchiha clan won't get the short end of the stick in the near future?"

Hideki fidgeted uncomfortably. "W-Well, about that…" he muttered. "Several of the clan council members were worried about that and had voiced that out, but there is also an additional request put forth by the Senju clan head for this truce and union."

"And that is?" Madara asked warily, suddenly not liking the look on his father's face.

Hideki glanced from Sayo to Madara and back again before taking in a deep breath before speaking. "To solidify the alliance and union between both our clans, the Senju heir, Senju Hashirama, had asked for the hand of marriage of one Uchiha Sayo."

You could almost hear a pin drop in the room just then.

* * *

_A/N: Haha! What a cliff-hanger! Aren't I evil? About the Hiore battle scene, I realise that it is a tad bit rushed, but I wanted it well out of the way. Don't worry, he will make an appearance soon in the near future, only not so soon. Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_**Death's Spiel (Naruto)**_

_FemNaru. After the ninja nations had fallen to the Akatsuki during the war, Namikaze Sayo soon took to travelling in search of the one who had destroyed her home and unexpectedly gain new allies in the form of vampires when she had came across them in the small rainy town of Forks. Edward/FemNaru _


	8. Unwanted Union

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Unwanted Union**

Sayo couldn't sleep a wink at all that night.

It was a cool night that night, and Sayo had left the windows opened, and despite the fact that she hadn't slept at all the previous night, she couldn't fall asleep at all. The redhead kept tossing and turning in her bed, with the sheets all crumpled up around her body as she did so, but no matter what she did, she simply couldn't fall asleep at all.

Finally, she gave up, and merely stared at the wooden ceiling of her room in Seina's old house in the Uchiha clan enclave. Madara had fallen extremely quiet after Hideki-sama had dropped that bombshell earlier that morning, and he hadn't been seen all day after that.

Sayo herself had sat in the branches of the weeping cherry tree in the Uchiha clan enclave where she had always sat in whenever she needs to think or to be alone by herself for a few hours. And she had literally sat there the entire day until night had fallen.

Sayo is well versed in politics and knew how the minds of the daimyos work, alongside the minds of the lords of each nation as well as how the minds of politicians work.

She knew and understood politics as Hideki-sama had taught her that aspect, seeing as how both his sons have never liked to sit in his political lessons anyway, and Seina doesn't have a sharp enough wit to match those of the daimyos. Thus, the Uchiha clan head was pleased when Sayo is sharp enough to match her mind and wit against the daimyos and lords that they usually have to handle frequently, and is also eloquent enough to not offend them. Thus, Sayo was well versed in politics, and knew that political marriages between two shinobi clans are pretty common, especially if the two clans wanted to keep things peaceful between them.

But this…

If Sayo has to name someone whom she detested and would probably never accept as a friend in this life or the next, or in any of her other lives after that, it will probably be Senju Hashirama.

The medics of the Uchiha clan have discovered Seina's 'dead body' a few hours after that bombshell that Hideki-sama had dropped, and it seemed like Sayo had managed to create a convincing enough 'corpse' for the medics to find, as not even Yuki, the head medic, had suspected anything, and Seina was hereby declared dead. Haru on the other hand, had literally bawled his eyes out when he was informed of his mother's 'death', and it makes Sayo feel bad at seeing the toddler cry like that, but she knew that she couldn't let Haru know about this.

Finally, Sayo sat up in her bed, turning so that she is sitting in her bed with her back against the wall just next to the window, her arms wrapped around her legs that were brought up to her chest. It was a cool and silent night, with only the sounds of crickets chirping in the darkness, and the low whistles of the wind.

Like Seina, Sayo is extremely sensitive to chakra and nature itself, and it is this fact alone that very few people could actually creep up behind her unnoticed. So far, the only ones who could do that are Madara and the Senju heir, Senju Hashirama.

Sayo doesn't mind Senju Tobirama so much, as she kind of like the guy especially after having worked together with him during that mission to Shometsu Village two years ago. And the silver haired secondary Senju heir also kind of reminds her of Izuna. Both have the same cheeky look to them, with the same mischievous disposition, and that bright and sunny outlook on life. Sayo is also pretty sure that probably, in another time and place, if Tobirama and Izuna have met under different circumstances, they would have probably been the best of friends, brothers even.

But now…

Sayo frowned inwardly as she turned her head upwards to look at the opened window which had the bamboo screen left opened to allow the night air in, and she sighed inwardly before turning her gaze back towards the sheets beneath her feet.

"How much longer are you going to sit there, Madara? And how long have you been there?"

There was a low sigh from just outside her window, and Sayo's sharp ears caught the sounds of light scuffling before Madara stood up and leaned against the walls of her house just beside the window, with a sad and frustrated feel to his chakra.

"I've already been here awhile." Madara replied, tilting his head backwards slightly with his hands clasped together behind his back. "And I'll stay here for as long as necessary. Even till daylight if I have to. I'm worried about you."

Sayo smiled tentatively to herself before glancing at the bedside table next to her bed where the ninjato that Madara had given to her for her first birthday that they've celebrated together, was currently resting on the surface of the table.

"You never change."

"I could say the same for you," said Madara. There was silence for several moments sans for the cricking of the crickets before he spoke again, sounding serious, with his voice softer than before. "What are you going to do about the Senju's proposal?"

Sayo was silent, tightening her arms around her knees as she did so. "I have no idea," she admitted. "And besides, at this point in time, it doesn't really matter what _I _want now, doesn't it? Hideki-sama is the clan head. He has to decide on the best course of action for the sake of the clan. And right now, both you and I know what that best course of action is."

There was silence for a few moments before Madara spoke again, a tinge of pain in his voice. "There isn't anyone else here," he said. "That's why…" His voice quavered slightly. "That's why…you can tell me what you're really feeling. Your _true _feelings about this. What you _really_ _want _to do about this. Tell me, Sayo."

Sayo was silent for several moments, biting onto her lower lip to prevent the tears from flowing, and tightening her arms around her knees. "You're always like this," she said, a short bitter laugh escaping from her throat. "Like always, you can always see right through me in a way that not even Seina could. My true feelings, huh?" She leaned her head back against the wall. "Truthfully? I have no idea either. I am hoping that you can tell me."

"I can't." Madara mumbled, staring at the ground below his feet. "It is something that only you can answer. And I'm pretty sure that you know the answer to that as well. The Sayo that I knew always knew what she wanted, and what she must do in every situation. That's the Sayo that I knew. The one that I'm…attracted to."

Butterflies exploded in Sayo's stomach at that statement, and she fought to keep it down before resting her forehead against her kneecaps, and she said nothing for several moments. "I'm afraid," she admitted at last. "Things are changing too fast for me to comprehend. That guy… Senju Hashirama… Just what did he plan to do by proposing something like this? I don't understand. The truth is that I…don't want to marry that guy. I still can't forgive him for him having done what he did to Seina two years ago. But at this point in time…" She leaned her head back against the wall of her house, tears dropping from her eyes, yet she didn't bother to wipe it away. "…it doesn't really matter what _I _wanted now, doesn't it?"

"I won't let that happen to you," said Madara firmly and with such conviction that Sayo really wanted to believe in him for a moment. "I won't…make them force you to do something that you do not wish to."

Sayo smiled a small tentative smile, unwrapping her arms from around her knees, and pressing her right hand flat against the wall of her house where she could sense Madara is leaning against, pretending that Madara's hand is touching that part of that wall. Unknown to her, on the other side of the wall, Madara _is _doing the same thing, pretending that he is facing her as he spoke, with his right hand flat against the wall of the house.

"You can't promise that," said Sayo softly. "Even as the Uchiha clan heir, there are things that even you can't do."

"This time, I promise that I will do it," said Madara firmly. "So please, Sayo…don't give up just yet. I…can't protect Izuna and Seina. You're all that I have left now. So please…" He closed his eyes. "…don't give up… And don't leave me." He said that last part so softly that Sayo almost couldn't catch it. "I won't make them force you into a marriage that you do not wish to happen. I won't let that happen to you! I'll always be there for you. I'll hold your hand if you fall down. I'll wipe your tears away if you should cry. I'll always be there for you. Always. That's why… Please…" Madara trailed off, his head dropping, feeling like his heart was about to break. "…don't give up…"

On the other side of the wall, Sayo smiled sadly to herself, the hand pressing against the wall clenching into a fist slowly.

"Thank you."

**XXXXXX**

_The Next Morning  
Uchiha Clan Enclave_

Madara did indeed end up spending the entire night outside Sayo's house, and when dawn had broken, with Sayo heading to the bathroom to have a quick shower, Madara made a quick trip to his house where he knew that his father is currently in the mediation hall.

"Father, it's me," said Madara, announcing his presence by knocking on the door of the mediation hall. "I'm coming in."

Uchiha Hideki was dressed in a white yukata whilst being seated in the _seiza _position with his eyes closed, though he opened his eyes when Madara walked in, sitting across him in the formal _seiza _sitting posture as well, a serious look on his face.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Uchiha Hideki, though he knew perfectly well what Madara had come to ask.

He had to be an idiot, and blind or deaf to _not_ notice how Madara and Sayo have both behaved after he had dropped that bombshell the previous morning. He knew that his elder son had liked the redhead who is one of the best kunoichis in the clan, with power and ability on par with Madara's own, and _that_ is saying something since Madara is already close to surpassing him in terms of power and ability.

"About the Senju's marriage proposal…" said Madara slowly, not taking his eyes away from his father's own. "Is there a way out of it?"

Hideki sighed. "And just what do you want me to do about it, Madara?" he asked wearily. "You should know that Sayo is already eighteen, with her nineteenth birthday fast approaching as well. She is already of marriageable age, just like you are. I know that the clan doesn't really usually accept political marriages like this, but with this proposed truce and alliance from the Senju clan…" Hideki sighed. "I do not like it any better than you do, but I have to think of the welfare of the clan as well! We are all tired of the endless fighting."

"But Father—"

"Madara, if you don't want to lose Sayo to your rival, you have to make a move soon enough." Hideki interrupted. "I am neither blind nor deaf. I can see from a mile away that you like Sayo. You have for a long time now. Even before your brother's death. I think that is probably why Izuna chose to sacrifice his life for you instead. He knew about your feelings for Sayo." Hideki sighed. "The Senju heir desires her. And with them being such a powerful and influential clan as it is, you don't have much time to waste. You have to think of something quickly, or you might just end up losing Sayo."

**

* * *

**The afternoon sun was setting, painting a beautiful picture of oranges and reds across the lands as Sayo sat in the branches of the weeping cherry tree in the Uchiha clan enclave, watching the sunset as well as all the birds flying home to roost.

"Another day has come and gone," she muttered to herself. She then stared at her clenched fist and sighed to herself. "How much longer can I do this? Just how much more time do I have left?"

"Sayo."

A voice that interrupted her thoughts caused her to look down at the ground where the voice had came from only to see Madara standing at the foot of the weeping cherry tree, looking up at her with a serious expression.

"What is it?" asked Sayo with a curious look on her face.

Madara hesitated for a few moments, chewing nervously onto his lower lip before he looked up at her once again. "Tonight is the Moonlit Festival," he said, and Sayo blinked owlishly. "Tanzaku-Gai is holding a festival in the town to celebrate that festival. Will you go with me to the festival?"

**XXXXXX**

Tanzaku-Gai is one of the larger merchant towns in Fire Country, also famous for their casinos and gambling dens. As such, the decorations as well as the game stalls for the Moonlit Festival are fairly impressive, with visitors of all walks of life imaginable walking about the town.

Sayo herself was dressed in a cream-coloured kimono with designs of green leaf designs on it, whilst Madara was dressed in a dark blue kimono with white leaf imprints – both visiting the town for the sake of the festival celebrations.

Madara was rather determined to make Sayo forget about her troubles just for one night as he literally dragged her to every single game stall in the town, making her laugh occasionally when he kept failing at the paper scoop game when he tried, but kept failing to scoop up a goldfish. The man in charge of that game stall finally felt sorry for him, and gave Madara a red water balloon for his troubles which he had promptly given to Sayo.

But all his trouble of trying to make Sayo forget about her worries and problems just for one night suddenly came crashing down around his ears when the two suddenly ran smack into a certain Senju heir and his brother in the middle of the street.

Madara narrowed his eyes dangerously at the two Senju clan members when he had seen them, pushing Sayo behind him protectively. Senju Tobirama looked rather nervous upon seeing them, but Hashirama looked confident and even a tad bit arrogant when he had seen the two.

"Madara-san." Hashirama greeted before laying eyes on an angry looking and slightly scared Sayo. "Sayo."

"Don't address me with such familiarity." Sayo hissed. "You hadn't gained that right."

"You're going to be my wife soon after all." Hashirama stated, ignoring Madara's dangerous growl and Tobirama's alarmed look at both Madara and Hashirama.

"We haven't agreed to that yet." Madara hissed. "We might have agreed to the truce and clan alliance in building that shinobi village, but we most definitely haven't said yes to that marriage aspect."

"Can't we just forget about everything that had ever happened in the past, and just start over?" Hashirama continued as if Madara hasn't said anything at all, looking at Sayo in the eye. "It isn't a lie that I like you. I don't view you as a trophy to be won—"

Madara snorted. "You could have fooled me," he muttered.

"—though it is true that it is your abilities as a kunoichi that had first caught my attention." Hashirama continued like Madara had never spoken at all. "Most kunoichis never chose to specialise in combat like how you did. They rather chose to specialise in deception and genjutsu instead. But you're different. That's what had first attracted me to you. It isn't a lie that I like you. Can't we just forget about everything and just start over again?"

Sayo stared at Hashirama with a strange look for such a long time that it made all three male shinobis nervous, as the look in Sayo's eyes is that of a mix between anger, insulted and on the verge of murdering the Senju heir on the spot.

"You mean forget how you had killed Seina?" Sayo asked coldly, and Hashirama flinched, almost like he had just been smacked in the face. "Have you forgotten that she's my best friend? If what you said is true, then what do you think I must feel when you've injured her that badly two years ago? You didn't care, did you? Every single time whenever I see you, I was reminded of what you had done to her two years ago. That battle between you both…I remembered it clearly like it was yesterday whenever I saw you. How do you expect me to forgive you or even to forget about it when _you're _the reason that Seina is dead?"

Sayo clenched her hands into fists by her sides. "Seina never did anything to you! She merely happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time back then two years ago. I am a ninja. I know full well that vengeance has no place in a shinobi's life." She clenched her jaw. "I know that. But…I still can't forgive you. I…simply can't forgive you."

"T-That is…"

"No matter what you do, I can't forgive you for what you've done." Sayo stated coldly. "Putting Seina's matter aside, all those deaths of the Uchiha clan that were attributed by your hands… I saw those ninjas brought back in body bags, you know? I am the Uchiha clan's tactician after all. I saw to their burials myself. How many tears do you think were shed at those burials? How many people do you think have grieved for those deaths? How many parents do you think were devastated that their children won't be going home that night and ever again? Not that I'm saying that it isn't any different for your clan. But Seina's matter is a personal one for me. I can't forgive you for that. No matter what you do, I simply can't forgive you. We can be comrades. But we can never be more than that. Not even as friends." She then turned away. "Madara, let's go."

Madara nodded before following Sayo, with both Uchiha ninjas missing that gleaming look in Senju Hashirama's eyes as they did so.

**

* * *

**The sounds of the people enjoying the festival as well as the music and celebration sounds were considerably quieter as Sayo led Madara to the riverbank of the town where it's considerably quieter, without anyone present.

"Sorry," said Sayo with a tentative sad smile at Madara as the latter approached the redhead who was standing by the riverside with her arms crossed over her chest. "You brought me to this festival to have some fun after all. But I…"

"Don't mind about it," said Madara with a shake of his head. "I understand. If it's me, I would have probably done the same thing that you did. In fact, I would have probably done more. I would probably have punched him in the face or something. But…" He looked at Sayo before smiling. "I kind of understand why you didn't like him now. It's really because of Seina."

Sayo was silent for several moments after that. A glowing golden light out of the corner of her eye caught her attention just then, and she looked up only to see that several fireflies were flying about the riverbank, and her face lit up.

"Fireflies, huh?" said Madara in wonder. "It's rare to see them about this late in summer. These are probably the last ones left."

"I see. Summer is nearly over." Sayo nodded. "It's a pity." She sighed, clasping both her hands behind her back and scuffling the grass below her feet with one foot before sitting down by the riverbank, with Madara following her example. "Changes happen as time passes. That applies to humans and all things living." She sighed. "How true that saying is."

"Sayo?"

"Can we really watch the fireflies like this again next year?" asked Sayo softly, looking at the grass below her. "Will things never be the same again?" She then smiled before looking at Madara. "Come to think of it, seeing these fireflies made me remember. I remember the first time when Seina and Izuna have both brought me to the riverside near the clan enclave two years ago during summer just to watch the fireflies. My first thought at that time is that the fireflies looks just like lanterns in the night sky. Almost like they are lighting a path for the lost." She smiled sadly. "Then…can they light the way for me now? What should I do now? Or…" Sayo looked down at the grass below her. "Can we never go back to that time ever again?"

"I won't let that happen," said Madara firmly, grabbing Sayo by the shoulder, forcing her to look at him in the eye. "I won't let that happen."

Sayo closed her eyes in despair, letting her head fall down onto Madara's shoulder, resting her forehead against his shoulder, grabbing fistfuls of his kimono. "You don't know that," she stated, feeling salty tears rolling down her cheeks and wetting Madara's kimono.

This is about the only time when she really feels afraid of the future and what it might bring. She is never one to believe in fate and destiny, believing that the future is what one makes it.

But now…

"You don't know what could happen. No one could. Besides, Hideki-sama probably won't have a choice in this, Madara, and you know it. He has the welfare of the clan to think of after all. From a political point of view, I understand what he meant, but… It doesn't mean that it is any easier to accept it. I…see no way out of this. And you saw what had happened earlier. Senju Hashirama doesn't give up easily."

"And I've told you before, I will protect you," said Madara firmly, wrapping his slender arms around Sayo. "I will always be here for you. I will not leave you."

"How?"

Madara grabbed hold of Sayo's shoulders before pushing her slightly away from his body before grabbing her lips in a frantic kiss, much to her shock and surprise. Almost as soon as the kiss had begun, it soon ended, and Madara looked at Sayo straight in the eye, an almost desperate and frantic look in his eyes.

"The truth is, I had always wanted to kiss you," he admitted. "I always wanted to hold you in my arms like this, and always be the one to protect you. But after Izuna had died, I was afraid. I was afraid of losing you like I did my brother. After Izuna had died, you were the only one that even talked to me as the rest of the clan blamed me for Izuna's death. They said that I'm the one that had killed him, and they aren't totally wrong. But it still hurts. But throughout all that, you were the one that stood by my side, and supported me. You were the one to always cheer me up. You were the one that had always been by my side. It then made me realise that I…really couldn't do without you. But I still refused to face the truth of the matter because I'm afraid of things changing between us. For the longest time, you are my best friend, my confider, my partner, my everything. I was afraid that things will change between us. But then, the proposal from the Senju clan came, and then I realised that it didn't matter any longer. Not to me at least."

"It…didn't matter?"

Madara nodded. "It didn't matter to me any longer," he admitted. "I was stupid for thinking that. I was an idiot for being afraid of things changing. The proposal from the Senju clan made me realise that as long as I could see you, be by your side, being able to hold you like this, to kiss you, it didn't matter to me what would happen. What _could _happen. What changes would occur. Even if the world goes against me. Even if no one believes in me. It doesn't matter. Not to me at least. Not as long as you believe in me, and as long as you are by my side. You are my strength. My everything. As long as you don't leave me, and always be by my side, I feel like I can do anything. That's why…don't leave me."

Sayo was taken aback by surprise when Madara kissed her again.

"I love you, Sayo," he said, his voice quavering when he broke that kiss again, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly, almost like he was afraid that she would disappear if he loosens his grip on her. "I'll say this as many times as you wish if I have to. I knew that I was developing feelings for you from a long time ago, but I chose to ignore it. I didn't want things changing between us. But the marriage proposal that had come from the Senju clan then made me realise that if you are gone…that if you belong to someone else, there is no sense for me in living any longer. I didn't want to exist in a world where you don't exist, or if you aren't by my side. I love you, Sayo. Will…you accept me?"

Sayo was speechless for awhile. Never before had someone told her that he had loved her, and so deeply as well. A long time ago, Madara is one of the most sought after boys in the Uchiha clan, and even now, he still is, though viewed with mistrust as well.

But Sayo had trusted and believed in Madara, and she had stood by him. Not because of Izuna's last wishes. Not because Madara is all that is left to her now. But because she wanted to. She wanted to be the one to see him smile, and to make him happy again whenever he is sad. She wanted to stay by his side.

Feeling almost like something is stuck in her throat, all that Sayo could do is nod, a gentle smile appearing on her face, and pulling at the ends of her lips.

Madara then smiled and produced a black velvet box from within the folds of his kimono before opening it to reveal a smooth silver ring with three sapphire coloured stones set in the middle of it – the exact same colour as Sayo's eyes, and the redhead's eyes widened upon seeing that beautiful ring that sparkled in the light given by the fireflies surrounding them.

Madara smiled at her as he took her left hand into his and slid the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand.

"Marry me, Sayo."


	9. Formation of Konoha

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Formation of Konoha**

Uchiha Hideki was waiting for both Madara and Sayo at the entrance of the Uchiha clan enclave when they have both returned from the Moonlit Festival, both walking hand-in-hand, and the Uchiha clan head smiled a rare smile at the two youngsters when he saw that their hands were entwined together, and noticed the silver ring on Sayo's left ring finger.

"You sure do move fast, Madara," he said, looking at his son who looked away. Hideki then smiled a rare smile. "My son had finally become a man." He then turned towards Sayo. "Sayo, about the Senju clan, don't worry about it. I'll think of something. I won't force you into a marriage that you do not want, regardless of the clan's wishes." He then turned serious. "Sayo, this idiot son of mine is not the best guy out there, and neither is he the best boyfriend to a girl, as I doubt that he even knows how to write the word 'romantic'—"

Madara almost blanched. "Father!"

Hideki ignored Madara and continued speaking almost like Madara had never interrupted him at all. "But as a father, I will say that I can't be prouder of him than I will ever be of anyone else," he said with a smile. He then turned towards Madara. "I wish you both the best, and take good care of your wife, Madara."

**XXXXXX**

The wedding invitations for the wedding of the Uchiha clan heir were given out to all the shinobi clans in Fire Country, even to the Fire daimyo, as it is to be a relatively large affair – with Uchiha Hideki handing down the mantle of the title of Uchiha clan head to Madara on that day, and not to mention that the alliance with the official ceremony of the alliance with the Senju clan would be made on that day as well.

The day of the wedding saw the entire Uchiha clan buzzing with excitement since it had been awhile since there had been a reason for celebration, and after this day, if things go according to plan, they would no longer have to fight like they always had to before. The wedding is to be held at the rose garden of the Uchiha clan enclave, and several of the Uchiha clan's women have been busy with the preparations.

As Sayo doesn't have any known parents to her, Uchiha Hideki had made the decision to walk her down the aisle, since she _had _been like a daughter to the clan head, with the Uchiha head medic taking it upon herself to pick the best cloth to make Sayo's wedding kimono herself, and to also pick the best and freshest flowers for the wedding day.

Yuki had worked tirelessly on the wedding kimono for weeks before she is satisfied with it, and it had fitted Sayo like a glove. Madara's wedding kimono is the traditional black, with the Uchiha clan symbol etched all around the collar of the kimono – a fair contrast compared to Sayo's white wedding kimono. The redhead's wedding kimono was made of pure white silk with pale pink floral imprints of sakura flowers on it with an outline of light blue around the collar.

In the rose garden of the Uchiha clan enclave, a pale white arch had been put up with a red carpet leading to where the priest of the Shinto shrine where Uchiha Hideki had always gone to would be overseeing the ceremony. All the guests were already seated in the seats, with the clan heads and their families seated in the front seats, alongside the Fire daimyo and his guards, with the chairs being placed on either side of the long red carpet.

As the next Uchiha clan head was getting married, there was simply no way in hell that the Uchiha clan can avoid inviting the clan heads of all the other shinobi clans in Fire Country as well as all the other important officials in Fire Country itself. Furthermore, this wedding ceremony also serves as an opportunity for the alliance with the Senju clan to be set in stone, and the new shinobi village can then commence building. Rumours of a possible alliance with the Whirlpool Country were also filtering around, though the Senju clan is handling that part of the agreement, and there was also talk of an arranged marriage being worked into that alliance.

Sato, the shop owner of the clothing and weapons store that Madara and Sayo have always visited in one of the towns not too far away from the Uchiha clan enclave is Madara's best man that day, as the guy didn't have any other close male friends. Usually, he would have asked Izuna to be his best man, but as it is…

One of the children of the Uchiha clan was also standing close by Sato at the end of the red carpet, with the small eight-year-old looking extremely excited, being dressed in a formal dark blue kimono, and holding up a red silk pillow where two silver-gold wedding rings with three sapphire stones each were set in it, along with a crimson red stone set in the middle of the circle that the three sapphire stones formed on the ring itself.

Haru, the two-year-old little toddler was also extremely excited, especially with all the excitement in the air, and was currently left in the care of one Senju Tobirama who seemed to be the only one that Sayo had actually trusted with the toddler's care. Madara didn't seem to agree with her, but he agreed that he might just be the only one that could be trusted with Haru's care, though he threatened the silver haired Senju ninja with severe bodily harm if Haru ever happens to lose even one hair on his head.

The sakura trees were fluttering about in the gentle breeze on this clear autumn day as the sky was clear without a cloud in the sky, the perfect weather for the big day. The petals of the sakura flowers were also fluttering prettily down to the ground, creating a beautiful picture.

**

* * *

**_Enshrinement Cove  
Uchiha Clan Enclave_

In the cove of the Uchiha clan enclave where the Sharingan wielding clan had enshrined all their deceased, Uchiha Madara could be seen standing in front of one of the coffins in the place, currently dressed in his black wedding kimono, and touching the sides of the wooden coffin.

"Izuna, today is the day." Madara told his younger brother who looked as if he is merely sleeping soundly in the coffin, despite him being dead for nearly two years. It is part of Uchiha clan tradition that the immediate family of the clan head – the main family of the Uchiha clan, would have the bodies of their deceased family members preserved for eternity with means of a special elaborate blood seal inscribed with Uchiha blood in it. "I'm finally marrying Sayo today. It should be you who should be by my side as my best man, offering your congratulations, and helping me through this day." He smiled a small tentative smile at the body within the coffin. He then sighed, lowering his head so that his bangs fell over his eyes. "But I guess that things don't always go our way, do they?"

"Madara."

Madara turned around at the sound of that voice only to see his father behind him, wearing a solemn look on his face. "You _do _know that it's considered bad luck to go near a coffin on your wedding day?" Uchiha Hideki questioned with a sigh.

"Sorry. It's just that I feel like I have to see Izuna first." Madara mumbled, and Hideki nodded.

"It's about time." Hideki told his son. "Let's go."

**

* * *

**It was exactly noon, and the band began to play as Uchiha Hideki led Sayo down the aisle at a steady pace. Sayo's right hand was in Hideki's left hand, and her left hand was clutching a bouquet of red tulips with orange tips to it, with the flowers being nestled within a nest of healthy green leaves, being tied with a red ribbon.

Madara watched as his bride and his father walked down the aisle, with the bridesmaids taking the rear, with one of the medic-nins that Sayo had grown close with in recent years holding the edge of the wedding kimono behind Sayo to prevent it from dragging along the ground. Two Uchiha children were throwing up the flowers in the wicket baskets that they were currently holding, both walking in front of the bride and her bridesmaids.

Madara felt his breath caught in his throat as Hideki walked his princess down the aisle, and to him, she seriously looked like a princess or even a goddess, and he thanked kami-sama who had given such a wonderful woman to him to be his wife.

When they reached the end of the aisle, Hideki took Sayo's hand and placed it into Madara's. Sayo smiled gently as she looked into Madara's ebony eyes, and together, the couple then turned to face the Shinto shrine priest standing there in his ceremonial robes of black and white.

The priest smiled as he spoke, his voice carrying loud and clear over the rose garden. "We have gathered here together on this delightful day to witness the union of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo. And can anyone here give just cause to why these two should not be joined in sacred marriage?"

If anyone had spoken at this point in time, Madara would most likely have killed them on the spot.

As the Uchiha heir glanced around the hundreds of guests being seated in the seats, with small smiles on the faces of more than half of them, he spied one Senju Hashirama sitting in between his father and brother in one of the front rows, and he decided that he didn't like the look on his face which looked to be a cross between anger and jealously. Senju Tobirama had a firm grip on his brother's kimono sleeve and was glaring at him with a look that dared him to say anything at this point in time.

Silence passed until the priest smiled at Madara and Sayo both. "Then, we shall begin," he said. "Do you both agree that you stand here willingly, ready to devote yourselves of your own free will to one another for the rest of your lives?"

"Yes," said Madara firmly.

"Yes," said Sayo softly.

The priest smiled and nodded. "Do you understand that the vows that you will be making upon this sacred day will be spoken before kami herself and before all those who have gathered here to bear witness to this union?"

"Yes," said Madara.

"Yes," said Sayo.

"Then you may now exchange your vows and speak only the truth," said the priest.

The Uchiha boy who had been given the responsibility of carrying the rings came forward just then, smiling slightly albeit nervously, and Madara smiled a small wan smile at the boy before taking the smaller ring of the two and carefully slipped it onto Sayo's ring finger on her left hand as he spoke his vows.

"Before the presence of kami, Heaven and Earth, hear me, for today, I make this sacred vow on my own free will. Today, I marry this woman and to make her my wife. Whether in sickness or in health, I promise that I will love you, respect you, console you, encourage you, help you, be faithful to you, protect you and to comfort you in the times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in the highest regard. From this day on until the day of my death, I hereby do swear."

With her hands trembling slightly and her heart thumping away, Sayo took the other wedding ring and slipped it onto Madara's ring finger on his left hand.

"Before the presence of kami, Heaven and Earth, hear me, for today, I make this sacred vow on my own free will. Today, I marry this man and to make him my husband. Whether in sickness or in health, I promise that I will love you, respect you, console you, encourage you, help you, be faithful to you, protect you and to comfort you in the times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in the highest regard. From this day on until the day of my death, I hereby do swear."

The priest then smiled. "And now, before the witnesses and kami herself, I hereby pronounce you as man and wife. May kami herself grant you the blessings of happiness, health and children, and may your union as one be long and everlasting." He then smiled and turned towards Madara. "You may now kiss the bride."

The people then began to applaud and cheer as the young couple kissed and looked deep into each other's eyes.

"I love you," said Madara to Sayo.

"And I love you," said Sayo, smiling gently.

They then kissed once more as the people around them cheered and celebrated.

Unseen by everyone else, Senju Hashirama clenched his right hand into a fist, being hidden in the sleeve of his kimono.

**XXXXXX**

_Six Months Later  
Fire Country_

Six months later could see the slow but steady construction of the new village of Konohagakure no sato in process.

Before the construction of the new village however, Fire Country and the shinobis clans had faced quite a crisis in which several of the councillors in the Fire daimyo's inner circle were mysteriously assassinated, along with their families. And seeing as how both the Uchiha and the Senju clans were two of Fire Country's most powerful shinobi clans, the Fire daimyo had asked for their help, and the two clans have sent two of their most powerful members to assist – the new clan head and their second respectively – Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo.

With Sayo's capabilities and ability for her quick mind and strategic thinking as a tactician, it didn't take her too long to figure out that it is the work of outsiders. Or more specifically, that accursed organisation that one Toshigaki Hiore had created, given the fact that both Sayo and Madara have encounters with that particular person, and with that organisation losing their head, the members were currently running amok.

Apparently, the creation of the new shinobi village that the Senju clan had planned with the alliance of all the shinobi clans in Fire Country poses some threat to Raven's Gate 'plan', and that organisation had started to retaliate by killing off the supporters of the Fire daimyo, though Sayo had an initial suspicion that whoever is running Raven's Gate now wanted to be the new leader of said new shinobi village, or the 'Hokage' – the Fire Shadow.

Finally, when five more councillors and their families were assassinated, along with some small no-name shinobi clan who had been protecting the daimyo and his family for generations, Sayo could take it no longer.

Against Madara and everyone's wishes, she actually went after the Raven's Gate assassins herself, though how the hell did she even know where they were is anyone's guess. Madara had an initial suspicion that Sayo had used her chakra sensing ability to the fullest, along with her ability to open up portals next to a person whom she'd gotten a lock on their chakra. Anyone who had an encounter with Sayo, even briefly, wouldn't be able to hide from her once she wanted to find them or woe betide, wanted them dead.

The redhead alone actually slaughtered half of the Raven's Gate assassins when she'd teleported straight into Raven's Gate's base, and had used her Hiraishin, living up to her name as 'Flash Goddess' by literally killing half of them within a few minutes. The remaining survivors fled, swearing vengeance, with a certain immortal among them, and not even Sayo could find them afterwards, as they were those whom she hadn't fought against.

And thus, the construction of the new shinobi village was able to proceed smoothly afterwards, though the Fire daimyo had finally relented to Sayo, Madara, Hashirama and Tobirama's suggestion to have twelve elite ninjas as part of his 'protection squad' – twelve elite ninjas from the shinobi village in his country assigned to protect him for a set number of years, and which the Fire daimyo had named the Twelve Fire Guardian Ninjas.

And by some strange twist of fate, Sayo and Madara somehow found themselves working with Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama to lead the construction of the village, along with the village ninja system as well as the security and evacuation routes itself. The Senju brothers are to build the buildings and houses for the village, and Senju Hashirama is to be the new Hokage, by unanimous voting from all the other shinobi clans, and Sayo wasn't too pleased by that, since she was still rather wary of Hashirama, alongside the fact that the Senju clan had always been bitter enemies and rivals with the Uchiha clan.

But in return, the Senju brothers had come to a compromise with Sayo and Madara. The Uchiha clan would be given the privilege to form their own military might – basically, the police force for the village for civilian matters and to also help strengthen the security within the village itself, and also the formation of any other security groups that they deem necessary for the village's benefit.

"Well, everything is going well," said Madara to Sayo as they both stood in front of the construction of a rather large tower which is to be the Hokage Tower – the main base of operations for the Hokage and any administration affairs. "But I really didn't expect for Hiore's people to…"

Sayo sighed. "Yeah."

Two familiar chakra sources behind them caught their attention just then, and the two then turned around only to see Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama standing behind them without saying a word. Madara frowned slightly when he caught the look on Hashirama's face, and he then put an arm around Sayo's shoulders before leading her away.

"Let's go."

Senju Tobirama sighed at the look on his brother's face as the two Uchihas walked away. He knew that the two Uchihas who have been his friends especially after the alliance made have never trusted his brother, and with the arranged marriage alliance thing that Hashirama had tried to pull half a year ago, he doesn't blame them in the least.

But what the hell is his brother thinking now by practically stalking Sayo all over the place ever since the fiasco with Raven's Gate? Uchiha Sayo is now out of his reach, and Hashirama should know this well.

"Nii-san, I'm only going to say this _one last time,"_ said Tobirama tiredly, and Hashirama turned towards him. "Give up on Sayo. She and Madara-san are already married, and rather happily at that. I would rather not ruin the new friendship that I had with them over some insane indulgence on your part, and the alliance that we have with their clan is already set in stone, as is the village. Doing anything to them at this point in time is going to be disastrous, and not to mention suicidal. Not even _you _could beat both of them at the same time. There is a reason, a _number _of reasons why the both of them are the Uchiha clan's strongest, and also S-class shinobis in their own right. Furthermore, Sayo is the village's tactician for a reason, and there is also a number of reasons why she could end the entire fiasco that we have awhile back with Raven's Gate on her own. And besides, don't you have your own fiancée to worry about?"

Hashirama spun wildly towards his brother, pulling his eyes away from watching Sayo's departing back, an incredulous look on his face. Fiancée? What?

"What do you mean?"

Tobirama rolled his eyes in frustration. "You have your head in the clouds again, didn't you?" he muttered sarcastically. "After the Uchiha clan had turned down the marriage proposal, and after Hideki-sama had proposed a deeper alliance by allowing their clan to build the security and military force of the new village, Father's last act as the Senju clan head before handing the mantle over to you had you engaged with the princess of the Uzumaki clan from the Whirlpool Country. That clan had given us a lot of help with the founding of the new village, and then with the aftermath of Raven's Gate's attack. Their princess is supposed to be arriving anytime soon. Uzumaki Mito-hime."

* * *

_**Preview of next chapter:**_

"_She had been the founder of the ANBU corps, and also one of the four responsible for what the village is today."_

"_I call it the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai. ANBU."_

"_There are shinobis who work in the sun, but there are also those that are required to work in the shadows."_


	10. With Pride

Alright, this is just a brief explanation about Sayo and her amnesia which is also briefly explained back in chapter six. Her complete loss of memories of her past is the price that she must pay for traversing back through time. Humankind must give up something in exchange for traversing back through time, and that is her price. As such, she can _never _remember her past and the friends that she'd made during her original timeline. I hope that this explains matters.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Ten: With Pride**

_One Year Later  
Tanzaku-Gai, Fire Country_

Uzumaki Mito, now Senju Mito, wife of the Shodaime Hokage of Konoha, Senju Hashirama, and had been for a little less than a year frowned slightly to herself as she watched the redhead woman who still looked like she's in her teens whilst she herself looked like she's in her early twenties by now, negotiating with the shop owner of the weapons shop that the Uchiha clan had always frequented even before the time of the Great Alliance, as what the people are calling the alliance that the Senju clan had proposed a little over a year ago.

From what she could see, the wife of the Uchiha clan head was clearly commissioning a weapon of some sort, given the type of products that the shop currently had on display on the walls as well as under the glass counters.

Her own marriage with the then clan heir of the Senju clan and now clan head is purely for political purposes, and Uzumaki Mito knew that extremely well. But even so, she wouldn't even have agreed to it in the first place if she didn't like Senju Hashirama.

She had met the then Senju heir at a dinner party in the Whirlpool Country when her father had hired Senju ninjas to guard his family whilst they were negotiating some trade alliances with the daimyo of the Wave Country, and Senju Hashirama and his brother were assigned to guard her and her younger sister.

She had hit it off with Senju Hashirama straight away, as the Uzumaki clan, despite being the ruling family of the Whirlpool Country, were also trained as ninjas, and she had been trained in the ninja arts from a very young age. Though like most kunoichis, she suffered from the bane of having small chakra reserves, and chose to be a medic as well as a genjutsu specialist, though she had several offence ninja techniques in her arsenal as well.

Mito had found Senju Hashirama to be a kind-hearted and a caring gentleman, though he was rather cool with her at that time which she could full well understand since he is a ninja on a mission at that time after all. She had then started exchanging letters with the Senju brothers after their mission, and when Hashirama's letters to her have ceased for some time, Tobirama had informed her about the alliance that Hashirama was proposing, and that he wished to wed some kunoichi of the Uchiha clan that had caught Hashirama's eye.

Mito had almost felt like her heart is breaking at that time.

She knew of the history and bad blood between both the Senju and Uchiha clans, and knew that they have never really gotten off on the right footing, especially seeing as how their then current clan heirs – Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara have never really seen eye-to-eye with each other, and had even fought to the death several times. It also didn't help matters that some of the most promising ninjas of their generation in the Uchiha clan – Uchiha Seina and Uchiha Izuna have tragically died about a year or so before that proposed marriage alliance.

Tobirama had told Mito about Uchiha Sayo, the Uchiha kunoichi that Hashirama had taken a liking to, and had wished to marry.

Apparently, the Uchiha clan had come across her by chance approximately two to three years ago, and had recognised her as family immediately. And as the redhead is an orphan with no family that she knew of, the then Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Hideki, had taken her in immediately, and Uchiha Seina had almost instantly taken her beneath her wing, with Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna extending to her their protection as well.

And it wasn't that long after that that Uchiha Sayo had started to make a name for herself as a kunoichi and as a seals master, also known for her tactician skills, with her name being known to nearly every single shinobi clan out there soon afterwards.

But the proposed marriage put forth to the Uchiha clan by the Senju clan didn't really succeed, as Mito heard from Tobirama later on that the Uchiha clan had suddenly sent out invitations of the wedding between Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo, proposing on an alternative solution to the whole alliance thing instead of having an arranged marriage worked into it.

The Senju clan had contacted the Uzumaki clan not too long after that, with Mito's father agreeing to the alliance, and to help with the founding and the building of this new shinobi village, even giving his permission to the Senju clan to use the Uzumaki clan's spiral symbol as part of their village identity. However, an arranged marriage is built into that alliance to actually ensure that the alliance actually lasts, and Mito is to be wed to Senju Hashirama, not that she actually minded.

It has been a little less than a year since then, and even though Mito knew that both she and Hashirama have mutual understanding and respect for each other, Hashirama doesn't love her in the romantic sense at all, unlike her. It hurts Mito, but she knew that she can't really do anything about it. Whatever that Hashirama does during their marriage of a little less than a year is merely a sense of duty for him.

Mito knew that he still harbours feelings for that Uchiha girl who is now the wife of his arch enemy and hopefully ex-enemy, Uchiha Madara, the current Uchiha clan head, with the Uchiha clan being named as one of the four founding clans of Konohagakure no sato.

She knew of Hashirama's feelings for the Uchiha girl, but for some strange reason, Mito can't seem to bring herself to hate the girl, despite never even meeting her once. If anything, Mito is more curious about the girl that had captured her love's heart. She knew that apart from Hashirama and Tobirama, Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo have been helping with the building of the village's foundation, security as well as the ninja system, though the latter two things were mostly seen to by the Uchihas, since the two Senju brothers were busy seeing to it that there were enough housing for all the people that would be living in the new village.

Hashirama was also currently being worked to the bone, using his Mokuton skills to construct houses and buildings more times than he could count, and not to mention the vast woodland being built all around the village to protect it was also extremely draining on him.

Senju nee Uzumaki Mito sighed to herself as she slightly rubbed the slight bump on her bulging abdomen, with the fabric of her cream coloured kimono being stretched slightly around her middle, showing that she is about three months along now.

It was a pleasant surprise for the Senju clan when they have found out that Mito is expecting the heir of the Senju clan, and the Senju matriarch was pleased when she had found out from her attendant who had been sent along with her when she had gotten married, that what she had assumed were bouts of morning sickness was just the symptoms of the first stages of pregnancy.

Hashirama was pleased as well, but apart from the attention and care that he spared to Mito as his duty to her as her husband, he basically didn't do anything all that much different at all. And as such, Mito decided to take it upon herself to meet the Uchiha girl who had been her rival in love, even if the Uchiha girl didn't ask for it, since she _is _also a married woman by this point in time.

Though now, with Mito looking at the woman who is supposed to be her age or perhaps just a little younger, the Senju matriarch wondered to herself just how the redhead Uchiha could still look like she is still in her teens. A fairly elaborate genjutsu perhaps?

Mito strode into the weapons store, being followed by her ever faithful attendant who had been with her ever since she was a baby. The Uchiha matriarch who was dressed in a dark blue battle kimono with a black cloth sash tied across her chest from which a katana hung on her back raised a brow upon seeing her, but soon returned to her previous task of studying the kunais on display on the table that she was currently standing in front of, with the shop owner explaining something to her about the kunais.

Those kunais were a little different from the usual ones that most shinobis uses, with the kunais being a slight bit larger than the usual kunais, also with wires wound around the handles. Were those special kunais supposed to be used in conjunction together with some jutsu?

It made Mito wonder if the Uchiha matriarch is taking on a student of some sort, as unlike most kunoichis who retired from the life of a ninja after marrying someone of high status – like a clan head of some prominent clan, Uchiha Sayo had never retired from the life of a ninja, though Mito knew that some of the elders in the Uchiha clan wished for her to retire as a ninja just so that she could carry out her 'duties' as the wife of the clan head.

Even Hashirama and Tobirama were busy with their own students now – a trio of three children not much older than nine or so who were refugees from some civilian village, with all three being taught by them. If Mito recalls, the unofficial 'leader' of the trio of children is a rather cheeky and mischievous boy by the name of Sarutobi Hizuren.

"Can I help you, Mito-hime?" asked the cool voice of the Uchiha matriarch.

Startled at the sound of the sudden voice, Mito looked up only to find herself looking straight into the cool sapphire blue eyes of the woman who is only a little younger than she is, despite how she looks. And that is another thing that made Mito notice Uchiha Sayo, as she is different in outward appearances, compared to most of the Uchihas in her clan. Whilst red hair is uncommon in the Uchiha clan, they are not that unusual either, though this is actually the first time that Mito had seen an Uchiha with blue eyes.

She had never seen Uchiha Sayo activating her doujutsu before, though there were rumours around the village that those that had seen Uchiha Sayo activating her doujutsu never live to tell the tale. The only ones whom she had activated her doujutsu around and are still among the living now is most probably only her husband, the only one who could match her in terms of combat.

"I was wondering if we could talk." Mito mumbled at a volume that is too low to be heard, though it definitely seemed like Uchiha Sayo had very sharp and acute hearing, as the lips of the Uchiha matriarch curled in slight amusement. "I had never really gotten a chance to get to know you, and you are one of Konoha's most celebrated and talked about ninjas, despite being a kunoichi."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Sayo mused. "We can talk whilst I'm getting my supplies. The building of the village is nearly done. All that is left to do is for Hashirama to finish the forest on the western side of Konoha – near the waterfall area, and for us four to decide what we should do with the ninja system and the running of the village, and all that. And I still need to decide on what weapons that I will be training my student with." She added, looking over a pair of kusari-gamas, along with a pair of elaborate looking katanas, alongside a pure silver tanto blade.

Mito raised an eyebrow. "Your student?" she questioned. "I've never heard that you had one."

Sayo laughed. "No, I've just started teaching him approximately two weeks ago," she explained. "He's a war orphan – from one of those civilian militia villages in western Fire Country that Tobirama had picked up about a month or two ago when he'd gone there to recruit people for the village with Madara. That boy just came along with Tobirama and Madara, and I don't know, but he kind of reminds me of Madara himself, and that's probably why I wanted to teach him."

"I see…" said Mito slowly with a gentle smile. The Uchiha matriarch doesn't seem so bad… "Hashirama had his own hands full with his own students as well. Monkeys, the whole lot of them are."

"That I've heard," said Sayo with an amused smile. "Tobirama was complaining about them the other day to Madara and me when we were having our usual Friday night drinking session. And kind of appropriate that you've described them as 'monkeys', since I've heard from Tobirama that that brunette boy…what's his name now? Hizuren or something, I think. That boy had somehow managed to get his hands on the monkey summon contract."

"Yeah, that boy has been a great help to me," said Mito with a gentle smile at the memory of the rather mischievous and playful Sarutobi Hizuren, rubbing her slightly bulging belly. "He'll make an excellent father some day if he continues this way, and he will be a great ninja someday as well. I won't be surprised if he'll be the next Hokage even."

The shop owner of the weapons store rigged up Sayo's purchases before handing it over to her, and the redhead then turned towards Mito. "I still have some time left before I have to head back to the village," said Sayo. "Should we go and get some dango?"

**

* * *

**"Delicious!" Mito chirped, chewing on a stick of dango outside the teahouse, with both Sayo and Mito sitting on a bench outside the teahouse, with a plate of dango and two cups of tea sitting beside them.

"The teahouse here is pretty famous for their dango," said Sayo with an amused smile, chewing on her own stick of dango as well. "I used to come here with Seina all the time." A sad smile appeared on her face just then, and Mito fell silent.

She had heard of the stories relating to Uchiha Seina's death, and could understand why Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo have never really trusted nor liked Senju Hashirama.

Mito then smiled slightly before rubbing onto her slightly bulging belly, chewing on the stick of dango in her hand. It seems like it isn't a mistake coming here to try to know the Uchiha matriarch better. She seems like a nice person, unlike all the other Uchihas. She can see why the stoic and Ice Prince Uchiha Madara had loved her so much, and why even her own husband had his heart captured by this redhead.

Mito sighed at that. She really can't bring herself to hate the redhead, for some strange reason, despite knowing that this redhead is her love rival. But as it is, she is already considered fortunate for having a marriage that worked out well, as not all arranged marriages are happy marriages for the females.

"How far are you along now?" asked Sayo suddenly, and Mito turned towards Sayo, rubbing her slightly bulging belly.

Mito smiled gently to herself as she rubbed her abdomen. "About three months now," she said.

"I see," said Sayo with a smile. "I'll look forward to the birth. Whether it be male or female, as long as the baby is healthy, that's the most important thing."

"That's true," said Mito with a nod. She then turned towards Sayo. "What about you? You and Madara-san have been married for about a year or so at this point in time, aren't you? Not going to try for a child of your own? I know that you both are busy people and all that, but surely you long to have a child of your own?"

Sayo's face fell at that, and she was silent for a long time before answering. "We can't even if we wanted to," she said, looking at the ground beneath her feet, clutching at the fabric around her abdomen with her free hand. "The Uchihas that have gained the ultimate Sharingan – the Eternal Mangekyou, would be barren. That's part of the price that we have to pay for the power that we gain when we've gained the Eternal Mangekyou."

That is half true, as the Uchihas who have mastered the usage of the Eternal Mangekyou had immortality as part of the side effects. And immortality basically meant that time had literally frozen for their bodies, and it also meant that their bodies would be barren as well.

Mito's face fell in horror at having opened up fresh wounds for Sayo. "I-I'm sorry—"

"Don't be," said Sayo, cutting Mito off. "It wasn't your fault. Not many people know this, anyway." She then sighed. "It doesn't matter for me. Haru is like a son to me, and Madara and I have practically raised him. He's a sweet kid, always smiling."

"That's true."

**XXXXXX**

That night, in the bedroom of the house of the Uchiha clan head in the village of Konoha, as Sayo laid in Madara's warm embrace, with their clothes strewn about all over the place, feeling Madara's hand resting on her naked back, she snuggled into him.

"Madara." She voiced out, and heard a grunt from him in reply. "Have…you ever thought of this issue…of not having children?"

There was silence for a long time before Madara spoke again, burying his face into her hair. "What brings this all of a sudden?" he asked.

"I was talking with Mito-hime earlier this morning, and it got me thinking." Sayo admitted. "It is true that we both knew the side effects of having gained the Eternal Mangekyou, but…"

"Sayo." Madara interrupted, pulling his face away from Sayo's hair, and rolling over so that he is pinning her down to the bed by her shoulder blades, with him above her. "You know that I don't care about that. I don't care if we can have any children or not, and Haru is like a son to us anyway. _You _are the most important thing to me at present. And that is all that matters to me."

Sayo laughed weakly. "Yeah. I guess it is just like you."

**XXXXXX**

_The Next Morning  
Hokage Tower_

"Alright, let's hurry and get this over with." Sayo mumbled irritably, rubbing her temples to ease her headache. "Let's just decide on the village and ninja system in this one meeting alone since we've already dragged on with it for long enough already!"

Tobirama sighed before looking over the papers in front of him. "Well, we've mostly decided on the ninja ranking system in the village, as well as the curriculum that must be covered in the ninja Academy," he muttered, running his eyes over the papers.

"You mean the 'jounin', 'chuunin' and 'genin' thing?" asked Madara with a frown, and Tobirama nodded. "I have no objections about that."

"And I have a proposition to make as well," said Sayo, looking up at the other three in the room. "Apart from the village's ninja militia and the Military Police Force, I think that we should also set up a separate ninja defensive force that answers to the Hokage only."

Hashirama frowned. "A defensive force?" he echoed.

Sayo nodded. "Yeah," she said, shuffling some papers about. "A separate group that only consists of the elite of the elite – the cream of the crop which members never show their faces in public unless they're off duty with use of a ceramic mask or something, I guess. And they'll also be known by their code names whilst they're serving in this special defensive force. Capture. Assassination. Sabotage. Interrogation. Torture. Those are just some of the things that they will be known and famous for. And I call it the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai. _ANBU."_

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato (Future)  
Fire Country_

Nara Shikamaru approached the table in the fuuinjutsu library of the Hokage Tower where both Neji and Sakura were at, dumping another mountain of books in his arms onto the table, adding it to the already humungous pile on it.

"I had been sifting through the old records on the Uchiha clan ever since the founding times of Konoha," said Shikamaru, picking up the top book from the pile, and flipping through it whilst the other two watched on. "Coupled together with whatever records that Sayo had found out and had left behind when she had disappeared, there are only a few conclusions that I can reach." The lazy genius glanced from Neji to Sakura and back again. "Do you both still remember the photo that Sakura had showed us a few months back?"

"Of the Uchiha clan heir back during the time of the shinobi clan wars?" asked Neji with a frown, and Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, I do. What of it?"

Shikamaru sighed. "I did some extensive research on that girl in the photo that Sakura had pointed out," he explained, and both Neji and Sakura paid rapt attention at this point in time. "That girl in the photo is the original founder of the ANBU, and also one of the four responsible for what the village is today. In fact, she is the original developer of the ninja training system, and also the developer of the ANBU training system that exists until today. Konoha's security is the tightest and also the most difficult to breach in all five countries because of her. I have to do some extensive digging on that girl, as she wasn't mentioned much in history apart from her contribution during the founding times of the village, and even what was covered in the Academy isn't a lot. She is the founder of the ANBU corps, and also the first ever Uchiha female to ever attain the ultimate stage of the Sharingan, and whose power is on par with the Shodaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara themselves in a time when the females are generally looked down upon." Shikamaru then glanced at Neji and Sakura warily, before speaking the next words. "And that girl's name is…Uchiha Sayo."

**XXXXXX**

Silence.

The description 'you can even hear a pin drop in the room' seems rather fitting right about now, as Sayo, Madara and Tobirama stared at Senju Hashirama and what he had just proposed awhile ago regarding the village council to assist the Hokage with the running of the village like he had just suddenly grown two new heads.

Sayo coughed discreetly into her hand. "Hashirama-san, have you ever suffered from a serious head injury?" she asked politely but sarcastically.

Hashirama stared back at her with question marks almost floating above his head. "Huh?"

Sayo sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to lessen her headache, whilst Tobirama and Madara had to fight to prevent their lips from twitching in amusement. "Alright, I'm going to make this as easy and as less insulting for you as possible," she snapped. "Let me put it this way: if you create this 'council' of yours this way, sooner or later, the seeds of corruption will take place in it, causing major problems for the future generations, and also for the village several years down the road."

Tobirama sighed and glanced at his rather sheepish looking brother. "She's right, you know, nii-san," he said. "We have enough problems as it is with our own clan council, particularly the elders. I would rather not have to deal with similar problems with the village's council."

"W-Well, if you put it that way…" Hashirama muttered. He then cleared his throat and looked at the other three. "But still, we _do _need a ruling body to help and advise the Hokage with the ruling and running of the village. One person can only do so much. And while it is true that a corrupt Hokage is easier to assassinate, having a village council will put the people's minds at ease that they still have a 'voice' to be heard through their representatives in the council."

Sayo frowned before shuffling the papers on the table before her, and the other three watched her silently. They knew that it's Sayo who is better at things like this than they are. There is a reason, a _number _of reasons why she's the village's best tactician, and also a reason why she is able to single-handedly take down the Raven's Gate organisation nearly a year or so ago.

"Alright, I have a brief idea about the creation of this council, or as Tobirama had oh so graciously named it, 'the Council of Fire'," said Sayo, and Tobirama blushed, scratching at his cheek idly. "The clan heads of each major shinobi clan – as in, only clans that are large enough to have a clan head leading them, will be given a seat in the council."

"Acceptable," said Madara with a nod, and the two Senju brothers nodded. "I mean, this _is _a shinobi village after all."

Hashirama frowned. "What about the civilians then? Even if this is a shinobi village, we can't just cut the civilians off from the running of the village."

Sayo sighed. "I'm not done talking yet!" she snapped, and Hashirama meeped, and Tobirama laughed. "As for civilians, we'll bring in the civilian head doctor of the hospital as well as the head instructor of the civilian Academy, as well as the commander of the ANBU corps that I am thinking of building. And mind you, this structure of the council is kept in mind for the future generations to prevent corruption. Better?"

"I guess so." Hashirama muttered.

Tobirama nodded his head, agreeing with his brother. "I have no objections to it either," he said. "The structure of this council that you've came up with might just work, and it can also resolve many problems that we ninjas tend to face. Civilians do not understand the way of the ninja, and it isn't so far-fetched as to say that majority of them feared us, which isn't too surprising, as we _are _killers after all. We often faced problems with the civilians whenever we have missions to civilian villages. But a doctor is different. He sees the vulnerable side of a ninja, and would also not be intimidated by any threats. A doctor sees a civilian and a ninja the same way – as mere humans. And the head instructor of the civilian Academy oversees the education of the future generations who does not wish to be ninjas. This council might just work out."

"I have a proposition as well," said Madara, glancing up from the papers that he is shuffling in front of him, and Sayo, Hashirama and Tobirama looked at him. "It's about the ANBU defensive force that Sayo had proposed." Sayo raised a brow at that, and Hashirama and Tobirama looked on curiously. "All of us here have fought and lived through the shinobi clan wars. We know first-hand how terrifying and devastating wars are, and how easily a life could be lost just like that. And as shinobis, we generally live in the darkness and the shadows, striking out at enemies from the darkness. But with this shinobi village, this means that shinobis will soon be coming out into the open, and from what I've heard from some of the scouts from my clan, at least three other similar villages in neighbouring countries were currently in the building process as well. And if I'm not mistaken, the shinobi village in Earth Country should be near completion by now."

Hashirama frowned. "What are you trying to drive at, Madara-san?" he asked.

Sayo thinks that she had a general idea as to what Madara is planning, as she knew and understood her husband like the back of her hand and vice versa.

"My idea is this: we build a separate branch of ANBU that answers to a separate leader – maybe one of the advisors of the Hokage and the Council of Fire." Madara explained. "This separate branch of ANBU will consist of the shinobis that works from the shadows, doing all the dirty as well as unspeakable jobs that most ninjas will never speak about, even though all of us admit that it is needed. After all, there are shinobis who work in the sun, but there are also those that are required to work in the shadows, in darkness. If we look at it like a tree, then those who work in the sun are the leaves, whilst those that work in the darkness are the roots. It is necessary for the survival of the village, and if one of the shinobis who worked from the darkness is ever caught by an enemy, the village can just pretend that that particular shinobi isn't from the village. It is a typical tactic – one that we used even back during the time of the shinobi clan wars."

Hashirama nodded slowly. "You have a point there," he said slowly. "It is something that is required if we're going to build a village." He then glanced at the two Uchihas. "And since Sayo is responsible for founding and training the shinobis who are going to be part of the ANBU, and she is going to be their first commander, and she _is _also going to be designing the security system of the village, then are you going to…?"

Madara nodded. "Yeah. I'll handle this separate ANBU branch," he said. "I'll probably train the first generation shinobis in this new ANBU unit personally before selecting someone later on to lead them. Though it'll most probably be one of my students, as I probably won't trust anyone else to do it. Leading such a branch of the ANBU is a thankless job, but someone needs to do it after all."

"Your student? You mean the kid that you and Sayo have been training of late?" asked Tobirama with surprise. "I heard from Hizuren about that kid. Seems like he's pretty quiet, and could also be pretty ruthless, with cunningness and a wit to match his mind. Traits fitting of a true shinobi, if you ask me."

"Yeah. That's Danzo," said Sayo with a nod. "Shimura Danzo."

"Alright, we're almost done with this meeting," said Hashirama with a relieved sigh. "Now that leaves just one last matter."

"And that is?"

Hashirama shifted uneasily on his feet for several moments which caused several raised brows, as Tobirama, Sayo and Madara have by now, worked with Senju Hashirama long enough to know that that's his habit when he is feeling nervous or apprehensive.

"It's about the bijuus." Hashirama said at last, and the eyes of everyone present widened a slight fraction at that. "The chakra monsters which are nine of the most powerful demons in Makai, the demon realm. You know that with my powers over Mokuton jutsu, I can control and suppress their power. During the time of the shinobi clan wars, I've came across several of them – eight to be exact – the one-tailed through the eight-tailed bijuus. And I was thinking that as a form of goodwill, we should give some of those tailed bijuus – weapons of mass destruction, to the currently building shinobi villages to ensure that peace and good relations stay among our villages."

There was a very long silence after that.

"I don't agree," said Sayo at last with a frown on her face, and Madara and Tobirama nodded. "The bijuus are chakra monsters – beings and weapons of mass destruction. No human can kill them. And even with my level of seal mastery, the most that I can do is to seal them away for eternity. Even the one tailed bijuu can do a lot of damage. If you gave those chakra monsters to the other shinobi villages, and if some of those villages should change their mind in the future and attack us, what is going to happen? We are shinobis after all, and this is a ninja village. And all ninjas are good at betrayal. Not every ninja kept their word and honour. You know this."

Tobirama sighed. "Nii-san, it isn't that I don't understand your wish to keep things peaceful among the five great nations since we've been fighting since before I could remember, but giving a bijuu to a rival country and village is rather like giving them a living ticking time bomb. You don't even know what might happen in the future."

"We'll come to it when the time comes," said Hashirama stubbornly. "Besides, if they tried to do anything with those bijuus, I can always suppress their power or even control them."

"And once you're gone?" Madara asked sharply. "Nothing can live on forever, and you know that. Not even you. You won't be around forever. What will happen if they use a bijuu or even a bijuu's vessel, which woe betide, is a _human vessel, _against us? What will happen?"

"We'll come to it when the time comes." Hashirama insisted stubbornly. "I'll start distributing the bijuus to the other currently building shinobi villages tomorrow."

There was a very long silence before Sayo stood up from behind the table, her hands laid flat on the table, an angry look in her eyes. "Seems like this meeting is over," she stated, a hint of anger in her usually composed voice. "I'll see to the security and the ANBU formation of the village. And about the bijuu issue, do as you wish, _Hokage-sama. _After all, who am I to doubt and to question the word of the _great and beloved Hokage _of our village?" She stated sarcastically, and Hashirama winced at that. "Do as you wish with the bijuus, but I still think that it's a very big mistake."

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato (Future)  
Fire Country_

"Time travel?" Sakura questioned with a frown, with three heads currently crowded around a rather thick and large tome in the fuuinjutsu library of the Hokage Tower, with Nara Shikamaru holding the book.

Sakura couldn't make head or tails of the seals drawn on the page at all, and felt her head beginning to hurt. It is Sayo and Shikamaru who are experts at this, not her, as with Jiraiya-sama's death, the two are the only known seal experts in Konoha, though Sayo is a level above Shikamaru in terms of sealing ability.

"Yeah," said Shikamaru with a nod, jabbing his index finger at a page. "From everything that we have found and gathered, my conclusion is this: Sayo had probably travelled back in time, whether accidentally or incidentally. And from what Tsunade-sama had told us nearly a year ago, or is it two years? Troublesome. Who cares? Anyway, like what I'm saying, it is probably this doujutsu of hers that had enabled her to do such a thing."

Neji frowned. "What are you getting at, Shikamaru?" he asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome," he whined. "My sealing ability and level isn't quite up to Sayo's level as she is a seals master, and she _had_ been trained by Jiraiya-sama after all, but I am still proficient enough with seals to do some advanced sealing. I came across this seal diagram when I was looking through Sayo's sealing notes." The brunette pulled out a notebook and opened it only to reveal that it is filled with page after page of sealing notes and diagrams which neither Sakura nor Neji could make head or tail of. Shikamaru jabbed his index finger at a rather peculiar looking seal which seemed similar to some type of seal that Sakura had only seen once in one of her kinjutsu studies when she was taking her medic mastery. "This is a highly advanced and yet difficult to perform seal that enables one to go back through time. I don't know why Sayo had been looking through such a thing, but I think that it probably has something to do with Jiraiya-sama."

"She wants to bring back her teacher." Sakura whispered, her heart clenching painfully when she had realised the pain and torment as well as the agony that her teammate had gone through when Jiraiya-sama had died.

"Yeah. Probably." Shikamaru sighed, knowing to a certain extent as to what Sayo had been feeling, as he had gone through the same thing that Sayo did when Asuma had died. But unlike Sayo, he always had a family to help him through this, but Sayo didn't. And Jiraiya-sama is probably the closest thing to a parent or a father that she had, and that's probably what drove her to look into seals like this. "I can probably perform this seal, a big 'if' here, mind you. But even so, with my level of sealing ability, I can only send us back about…six years back." Shikamaru looked from Neji to Sakura and back again, an unusually serious expression on his face. "During Neji's final year during the Academy, and when we were in a class below him. If we succeed, we can change a lot of things, and save a lot of people who have died. But most importantly, we can help Sayo, and maybe even find her. I'm not too certain if I can actually succeed, but if it's someone with Sayo's ability, she can easily send us back to anytime in the past. But as it is, even the best that I can do…"

"Don't fret, Shikamaru," said Neji comfortingly. "It'll be fine. We'll just do what we have to." He exchanged looks with the two in front of him. "Let's go back to the time of our genin exams. And then probably, we can probably find Sayo."

* * *

_A/N: My apologies if this seems a tad bit rushed. Also, I do have a question of my own that I hope someone can answer for me: from the time with the founding of Konoha, how many years have passed after that to the Sannins' birth? I'm rather lost on this area, and I hope someone can help me._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_


	11. Insane Lust

Alright, this is just a brief explanation about the time travel thingy about Shikamaru and the others. In the first chapter, Sayo used her _Eternal Mangekyou _to open up a rip in space in order to travel through time. It is true that she had been researching about time travel seals, but she didn't use a seal to travel back through time.

And about Shikamaru and the others, someone had asked me through a review why Shikamaru and the others don't just gather more people so that they can use more chakra and go all the way back to Sayo's era instead of just going back six years. People, in case you don't know, while it is true that seals use chakra in order to work, often, whether the seal can work or not is based on the sealing ability of the sealer.

Before Sayo had amnesia after she had gone back through time, she is a seals mistress, and had already attained her seal mastery. But Shikamaru had not, and he is only a level below Sayo in terms of sealing ability. And as stated before, with Jiraiya's death, Sayo and Shikamaru are the only two known sealing experts in Konoha. Thus, after Sayo's disappearance, Shikamaru is the only one who might be able to perform the time travel seal in Sayo's notes, but even so, with his sealing ability, he can only send them back six years, as a time travel seal isn't easy to perform.

And lastly, someone had asked me as well that when Sayo had travelled back in time, she had to give up her past identity of being Namikaze Sayo in order to remain in the timeline that she had arrived in – the shinobi clan wars. But Shikamaru and the others don't know that, do they? Also, the way that Sayo had travelled back in time is entirely different from the way that they're going to attempt, and the price that they must give up in order to remain in the timeline that they're going to arrive in is going to be different from Sayo's.

Please remember that during the time of the shinobi clan wars, Sayo and even her own father, and probably _grandfather _weren't even born yet! Thus, it kind of makes sense that Sayo's price is any memory of her past life, and she also had to give up her own identity. But in Shikamaru, Sakura and Neji's cases, technically, they are already alive in the time frame that they're going to, so the price that they have to give up is going to be different.

Also, regarding the Kyuubi form in the latest Naruto manga, yes, I've seen it, and I admit that it also kind of looks cool, but I am also extremely tired of having to repeat myself here, so this is going to be the last time that I'm repeating this. During earlier chapters, didn't I mention that Sayo already had Kyuubi extracted from her by Pein who made damn sure _not _to let his niece die during said sealing?

Anyway, that's it for the explanations for now, and just a heads-up, but you're not going to like the Hashirama portrayed in this chapter, though I think majority of you already hate him from previous chapters ever since his appearance. Also, a rape scene is also included here, so just skip over that part if you don't want to read it.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Insane Lust**

_Twenty Years Later  
Konohagakure no sato_

Five years old Senju Tsunade beamed brightly at her granduncle who was holding her hand as he handed her a teddy bear almost as large as herself as a gift for her having came in top in her Academy class that year, and she hugged the bear tightly.

Senju Tobirama chuckled to himself as he watched his grandniece.

It had been nearly twenty years ever since the founding of the village of Konoha, and looking back on it now, Tobirama could safely say that they didn't make the wrong decision back then, as they've changed the lives of many others for the better. Hashirama's son that he had with his wife, Senju nee Uzumaki Mito, had married young, at the mere age of fourteen or so, like so many other shinobis, and thus, his dear brother is already a _grandfather_ at the tender age of thirty eight.

But still, Tobirama is worried about his brother, not that he had said anything about that. He knew that his sister-in-law is a little upset that his brother had never seemed to love her romantically at all, despite already having been married for twenty years or so, and Tobirama knew that Hashirama is still lusting after Uchiha Sayo, even though it had been more than twenty years ever since Sayo had gotten married to his brother's arch rival and enemy. Fortunately, Mito doesn't seem to blame Sayo for it, if anything, she seemed to be interested in Sayo because of that fact.

And that student that Sayo and Madara have trained, Shimura Danzo. The boy turned out to be a very bright shinobi, alongside his and his brother's prized student, Sarutobi Hizuren, and the two boys actually turned out to be rivals, though Tobirama hoped that it is in a friendly manner, and _not _in a rather 'fight-to-the-death' kind of rivalry that Hashirama and Madara have throughout nearly all their childhood and also during their teenage years.

Madara had turned the leadership of the underground ANBU organisation that he had proposed some twenty years back to his student when Danzo was about eighteen or so, and the man had then focused more on leading his clan as well as assisting Sayo with her leadership of the ANBU that she had founded. The security system that Sayo had plotted out for the village hadn't been breached so far, and already, Konoha had already caught ten spies from several neighbouring countries who have tried to enter the village, but was caught because of the security system that Sayo had came up with.

And approximately a year or two ago, Sayo had actually brought back a young boy about his grandniece's age with her, with the boy looking extremely petrified of just about everything and everyone sans for Sayo herself, and who looked as if he would even jump at his own shadow. Sayo had later explained that she had found the boy in a neighbouring village about ten miles away from Konoha which village had been ravaged and burned down by bandits, and the boy is the only survivor, and that is only because Sayo had arrived just in time to prevent the boy from getting killed.

It is only later that Tobirama had heard from Tsunade that the boy's name is Orochimaru, and that Sayo had decided to enrol him into the shinobi Academy herself after hearing from the boy his reasons for wanting to become a ninja of the Leaf. And apparently, the boisterous son of the head merchant of the village had taken it upon himself to befriend Orochimaru after the pale boy had refuted all attempts from his classmates to befriend him.

And Orochimaru was so cold and so unresponsive that everyone soon took the hint. But not Jiraiya, it seems like. In the end, Orochimaru had quite given up on chasing Jiraiya away, and it works quite well in his favour as well, as Jiraiya made quite a good human shield in shielding Orochimaru from his unwanted female fans in school. Tsunade had even mentioned that the two seemed to be best friends already, as Jiraiya is the only one whom Orochimaru would even talk to, and is the only one whom he would even smile at.

Sayo had been training Orochimaru a little as well, and often, Tobirama had seen Sayo training Jiraiya alongside Orochimaru. As the backgrounds of both boys have zero shinobi knowledge, Sayo didn't find it all that much wrong to train them, as most of the shinobis believed that culturing a child in ninja knowledge from an early age would allow them to develop and to grow faster as ninjas.

"Alright, 'nade, we've got your present. Ready to go home?" asked Tobirama, kneeling down to his grandniece's eye-level who was hugging the teddy bear that Tobirama had bought for her like no tomorrow.

Tsunade beamed up at Tobirama before nodding, holding out her hand for Tobirama to take which he did. Before the two could head back to the Senju mansion however, there was an angry voice coming from somewhere in the marketplace where they both were at; a voice which Tobirama recognised instantly.

"That's enough! You're disgracing yourselves!"

"Huh?"

Tobirama headed towards the source of the commotion with Tsunade tagging along with him, only to see that a crowd had already gathered.

Uchiha Sayo, still looking like she still is in her teens, alongside her husband, was looking extremely angry with three Hyuugas from the Main Family, maybe in their thirties to forties, standing in front of her. Orochimaru was hiding behind Sayo's legs, looking extremely frightened, both hands clutching onto the fabric of Sayo's battle kimono.

"Huh?" The middle Hyuuga who seemed to be the head looked down at her arrogantly. "You're going to tell us what to do?"

Sayo growled low in her throat. "You're scum, all of you!" she growled, keeping Orochimaru well behind her, and Tobirama is smart enough to put two and two together immediately to guess what had just transpired here.

The Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans have never really gotten along with each other, even before the alliance made during the founding of Konoha. The Senju don't really like the Uchiha as well before the alliance, but at least they still have mutual respect for the Uchiha. And like nearly all shinobi clans, the Uchiha didn't like the fact that the Hyuuga have practically enslaved their own family by use of a seal just because of a fucking doujutsu. I mean, the Sharingan that the Uchiha possesses is on par with the Byakugan of the Hyuuga, power wise, but you don't see them enslaving their family, do you?

And with the fact that Shimura Danzo whom both Sayo and Madara have trained is now one of the top shinobis of the village, being the head of the underground ANBU organisation Roots that handles all the dark deeds that the village kept hidden, and now with Sayo teaching Orochimaru and Jiraiya, though she hadn't taken them on as her apprentices officially yet, Tobirama can see why the Hyuuga didn't like the Uchiha, as the Uchiha clan had been gaining more power and standing with the village because of all these contributions. And not to mention that the normally stubborn as a mule Shimura Danzo only listens to and obeys Sayo and Madara. Not even the Hokage can make him listen and obey if he doesn't want to.

As Sayo had been the one to design the ninja training system of Konoha, along with being the founder and commander of the ANBU corps, the Uchiha is considered one of the founding clans of Konoha, alongside the Senju and Namikaze clans.

Tobirama had also heard from Tsunade that Orochimaru had been getting picked on by the Hyuuga members in their Academy class, though he mostly just ignores them. On the other hand, however, Jiraiya isn't so patient as to just sit through an entire day listening to some arrogant snot nosed brat with an eye disease insult his best friend day in and day out, and he had actually landed himself in detention with an irate Academy teacher (Utatane Koharu) last week after he had gotten into a fight with five Hyuugas, and had given them all broken jaws and black eyes resembling panda eyes with both eyes.

And when the Hyuuga clan head had gone to Sayo to complain, the redhead had actually said coolly to the clan head's face that if he can't control his own clan members and their obnoxious behaviour, then she wouldn't do anything about Jiraiya, since in her own opinion, they deserved it anyway.

Uchiha Haruki, Madara and Sayo's twenty three year old nephew had been in their house when the Hyuuga clan head had dropped by, and he had almost burst out laughing at that, as the face of the Hyuuga clan head had changed colours so quickly that he could almost resemble a traffic light of sorts.

Haru had gotten married to a civilian girl close to six years back when a travelling merchant troupe had came through the village, and their marriage is still going happy and strong, with Haru being the next-in-line to be the clan head, as Madara and Sayo, both not having any children of their own, had named Haru as the clan heir. And furthermore, Haru already had a three year old son of his own with his wife, Miki, with another child on its way.

"Tobirama-ojii-sama, shouldn't you do something?" Tsunade asked nervously, looking up at her granduncle.

"No, I don't have to. Sayo had it all under control." Tobirama muttered darkly, eyeing the ninjato in Sayo's right hand which is usually hanging from a cloth sash on her back. And the redhead's grip on her ninjato is tightening with every moment and with every insult that the Hyuugas are throwing at her. He only hope that Sayo is composed enough to _not _kill them in the middle of the street.

'_Those fools… They __**knew**__ that Sayo is the ANBU commander, and one of the four founders of the village, yet they still tried to antagonise her. Are they tired of living or something? Of the four of us, Sayo might be the only one whose prowess and ninja ability is near unknown to our enemies as she is our village's tactician, but that doesn't mean that she is in any way less skilled than us. If anything, they should be afraid of her, as among us four, she is the most ruthless among us, and also the least compassionate to her enemies.'_

"Are you three grown men, fully fledged shinobis, so cowardly, that you have to pick on a five-year-old boy who isn't even a genin yet?" Sayo snarled at the three Hyuugas, feeling Orochimaru tighten his grip on her clothing, his golden eyes wide and frightened. "That's why I hate the Hyuugas! Between the Senju and the Hyuuga, I'll pick the Senju clan over your clan anytime soon. I really wonder if Hashirama is high on something when he made the decision to include your clan in the alliance."

The Hyuugas twitched when there were several murmurs of agreement through the crowd, and Tobirama barely restrained a grin. The Hyuuga aren't exactly popular with the village, even now, as everyone in Konoha feels that it is barbaric of the Hyuuga clan to enslave their own family with the usage of a seal.

When Konoha had first stabilised, Hashirama had actually made the offer to the Hyuuga to stop using the Bird Caged Seal in exchange for another seal that won't enslave the clan. But when the Hyuuga had heard that it is going to be Sayo who will be designing the seal as she is currently Konoha and the shinobi world's only living seal expert, they flat out turned down the idea. And not to mention that nearly eighty percent of Konoha's population feels that the Hyuugas are too arrogant for their liking, and not really helping with the village's protection like how the Senju and the Uchiha clans did.

"What did you say, you bitch?"

"Remove yourself from my sight and vicinity right now!" Sayo growled. "Such an unsightly sight… Be thankful that I'm not on ANBU duty right now, or I'll arrest every single one of you for public disturbance and for picking on a civilian who isn't even a ninja!"

"Repeat that again, I dare you to!"

_Click._

Everyone watching this scene with interest tensed up when Sayo partially unsheathed her ninjato with a flick of the thumb on her right hand, a dark look on her face that Tobirama had seen only once during the time of the shinobi clan wars when Sayo had practically slaughtered half of their enemy's troops.

"I am asking you to remove yourself from my sight and vicinity on your own power." Sayo stated slowly, almost like speaking to a mentally retarded person. "I will not ask again. Which will it be?"

"I am a Hyuuga, and—"

"If you seriously think that that eye disease that you call a doujutsu even stands a chance against me, I'll advise you to think again." Sayo spoke harshly. "Leave and remove yourselves from my sight, or go straight on your way to the Pearly Gates." She unsheathed her ninjato a little more with a flick of her thumb, and Sayo's eyes narrowed dangerously at the three Hyuugas with no brains in their heads. "Which will it be?"

Tobirama decided just then to interfere, as if he do not interfere and stop Sayo from killing three Hyuugas from the Main Family in the middle of the market, he and his brother will probably have another visit from an angry Hyuuga clan head which will be the what, sixth time that month? And Tobirama is simply in no mood to argue with the Hyuuga clan head all night long once more when all he wanted to do is to just go home and snuggle up with his wife.

"Alright, that is enough!" said Tobirama, stepping out, and every head in the vicinity turned towards him. Tsunade who had been hiding behind his legs ran towards Orochimaru, trying to comfort him, since she is about the only girl whom both Orochimaru and Jiraiya actually talks to, as she is the only girl in class who doesn't go gaga all over Orochimaru, and who doesn't faint when Orochimaru so much as _breathed _in their direction. Tobirama then glared at the three trouble making Hyuugas sternly. "You three know the rules, and you know that there is to be _no _fighting in Konoha's streets _unless _it's a spar, and even then, please take it to the training grounds. They are there for a reason. And this is already the tenth time this month alone that you Hyuugas have accosted Sayo and Orochimaru. How long must this go on until it ends? Or do you wish for me to release the ban that I've placed on the Uchiha Military Force to _not _arrest you Hyuugas unless you lay a hand on their clan head's wife?"

The Hyuugas muttered something before vanishing somewhere in the crowd. Tobirama sighed and turned towards the crowd, waving his hands. "Alright! There's nothing else to be seen. Move along."

There were mutterings as the crowd dispersed, several shooting Tobirama interested glances, as they rarely see the Hokage's brother in the village, as he is mostly on missions. A few even glanced at Sayo who had kneeled down to Orochimaru's eye level, examining him and checking him over for any injuries, despite the boy's protests.

The silver haired Senju ninja then sighed and turned towards Sayo. "Sayo, are you alright?" he asked, walking towards the redhead.

"I'm fine. And I could have handled it myself," said Sayo, glancing at Tobirama out of the corner of her eye. "But still, thanks."

Tobirama sighed. "I just don't think that it's a very good idea for you to start killing Hyuugas in the middle of the village," he stated. "Before, you only stuck to paralysing a few no-brain Hyuugas in the streets with use of a seal that rendered them paralysed for several hours. And on another occasion, a Hyuuga actually wound up on the top of the flag pole in the middle of the village square dressed only in his underwear, and don't tell me that you have nothing to do with it, because I know you do. I just have no idea until today just _how_ you've managed to pull that off. What are you going to do to them next?"

Sayo snorted. "I've told you that I won't touch the Hyuugas as long as it is just me involved. But if they start hurting the kids under my care whether emotionally or physically, then I can't just look away," she stated. "Orochimaru is an orphan that I've found a few years ago. I can't just leave a child to fend for himself, or even to send him to the orphanage. That's why I started looking after him, even though he has to live by himself in the apartment that Hashirama had supplied him with, as for obvious reasons, I can't take him into the Uchiha clan compound to live with us."

"Well, I understand that." Tobirama muttered.

"Then do me a favour and do something about this unfair treatment!" Sayo snapped. "At this rate, I think that it'll actually be a kinder act to Orochimaru to actually let him decide if he wants to move to another ninja village instead. At least he might just be able to receive some fair treatment then!" Tobirama said nothing to that, and Sayo sighed before turning towards the two children. "Orochimaru, are you alright?"

Orochimaru looked at Sayo in the eye before nodding. "Hai, Sayo-sensei," he mumbled.

"Good. Let's get you home," said Sayo, standing up and taking Orochimaru's hand. "Tobirama, I'll see you tomorrow. I still have a training session with Madara later on."

"Yeah," said Tobirama with a nod.

**XXXXXX**

_Two Hours Later  
Konohagakure no sato_

Uchiha Sayo's eye twitched two hours after having seen Orochimaru home, and made damn sure that his cupboards are actually stocked full of food.

She is currently in some part of Konoha that most of the inhabitants of the village don't usually walk by, currently on her way to the Uchiha training grounds at the waterfall area near the borders of the village which Madara had built close to ten years ago as a wedding anniversary gift for her. The presence that she could detect not more than ten feet behind her is extremely subtle, not something that no one, but only the most experienced of ninjas or a chakra sensor type like Sayo could detect.

Sayo finally stopped in her tracks, sighing loudly and glaring at somewhere above her head behind her. "You know, _Hokage-sama," _she said, placing an emphasis on the 'Hokage-sama', "if you follow me around like this when we're both already _married, _tongues are going to wag. And I don't fancy on explaining myself to Mito-hime just _why_ her husband had suddenly decided to play 'stalker'. I _do _value and care about my reputation even if you don't care about yours."

There was a moment or two before Senju Hashirama dropped down from somewhere above her, landing lightly on his feet, the ends of his battle kimono flying behind him slightly, a slight frown on his tanned face. "You're still angry about the bijuus' issue back then?" he questioned with a slight frown.

Sayo almost snorted. "Geez, what gives that away?" she asked sarcastically. "Anyway, you should know how I feel about being in your presence any longer than necessary by now. So kindly just remove yourself from my vicinity if you don't mind. I've got somewhere else to be." She then turned around to leave.

Sayo never felt the hand coming down hard on the back of her neck until it is too late, and darkness enveloped her instantly.

**XXXXXX**

_Uchiha Training Grounds (Waterfall Area)  
Konohagakure no sato_

"She's late. She's never late." Madara muttered, glancing up at the sky only to see that it had already turned orange-red. "Sayo…where are you?"

Madara can't help but have a really _bad_ feeling about this.

Sayo is _never _late to anything, not to any meetings, appointments or even to their regular sparring sessions. If anything, she is _always _early.

Finally, Madara bit on his own thumb, drawing some blood, before performing a series of quick handseals, slamming his hand down onto the ground, calling out, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A large plume of smoke appeared in an instant, and when the smoke had faded away, a weasel about the size of a medium-sized puppy with a cream-coloured coat with black stripes down its back was standing there.

When Madara had first gotten his phoenix contract from his father on his eighteenth birthday, he had passed his weasel contract to his younger brother. But when Izuna had died, the weasel contract had then gotten passed back to him again, and after a brief talk with both summon bosses, both summon bosses have then agreed to allow him to have dual summons.

The weasel looked up at Madara unblinkingly. "What is it, Madara? I don't see any enemies around here."

"No, it's not that," said Madara, kneeling down to the weasel's eye level. "Kamitari, I need you to help me with something." He took in a deep breath. "I need you to help me track down Sayo's scent."

Kamitari blinked at Madara. "Sayo?" he echoed. "Is there something wrong with Sayo?"

"I just have a bad feeling about this," said Madara with a worried look on his face. "I'm really worried. I have a really bad feeling about this."

"I understand," said Kamitari with a nod.

**

* * *

**As Sayo blinked her eyes blearily opened as she slowly regained consciousness, her sight focused itself only to see an unfamiliar ceiling made out of tree branches.

"This is…"

Sayo tried to sit up only to find that she can't. And when she turned her head, it is only to see that both her wrists were pinned down onto the bed that she is lying on with entwined tree branches and vines, and so were her ankles. And Sayo had also been a ninja for long enough to tell that her chakra network seemed to be currently messed up right now – probably from a drug of some sort.

"W-What…is this?"

"I see that you're awake," said a baritone-like voice, and Sayo turned her head only to see Senju Hashirama walking out from the darkness. And it is only just vaguely visible, but Sayo could vaguely see a look of insanity in his eyes.

"Hashirama?" Sayo uttered unbelievingly. "What did you bring me here for? Let me go!"

"I don't think so," said Hashirama, sitting down by Sayo's bedside and caressing her cheek. The redhead jerked her head away, a look of fury on her face, a sinking feeling slowly developing in the pits of her stomach. "How many years do you think I have waited for you? Almost twenty years have passed. And yet…"

Sayo stared at Hashirama with a look that suggested he had suddenly turned insane. "May I remind you that you are currently _married _to Mito-hime, and that you have a family of your own as well? And I don't think that I have to remind you just how vicious Madara can be when provoked. He'll probably leave you in pieces if he found out about this."

"I don't think so," said Hashirama calmly, bending over Sayo and pinning her wrists down onto the bed.

"Let…me go! Why are you even doing this?"

"I am willing to give you anything that you've ever wanted!" Hashirama hissed. "There is no one in this world who loved you more than I did! What don't I have that isn't better than Uchiha Madara?"

"He isn't a bastard like you for one!" Sayo spat. "He didn't kill my best friend like how _you _did for another!"

"He killed his own brother just for power! What makes him any different?"

"Lots!" Sayo almost shouted in his face. "You killed Seina for nothing at all sans for the fact that she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and just because she's of the Uchiha clan! And you _enjoyed _it! I can _see _it in your eyes back then! Madara only killed Izuna because of the sole fact that he needs that power to protect the clan! On that day, Izuna and Madara made a brothers' pact that whichever one of them whom survives will protect the clan in their steed instead!"

"I am the Hokage!" Hashirama snarled at Sayo. "Why can't you just see that I love you?"

"You don't love me!" Sayo shouted back. "You just have a sick interest in me! You merely want something that you can't ever have! And you're bitter, just because Madara who is your sworn enemy had gained my love, whilst you didn't!"

"Why can't it be me?" Hashirama demanded, his short nails digging into the skin around Sayo's wrists. "In what way am I not better than Uchiha Madara? If I can't have you voluntarily, then I shall just take what should have been mine twenty years ago!"

Hashirama released his hold on Sayo's wrists, and the redhead looked at him warily. She had a really bad feeling about this…

Her eyes then widened slightly in fear when she saw Hashirama undoing the black belt around his waist that held his red battle kimono together before slipping off the outer garment and tossing it on the ground, leaving him in only black pants and a black fishnet shirt.

"W-What are you going to do?"

"I've told you before: if I can't have you voluntarily, then I shall just take what should have been mine twenty years ago!" Hashirama snarled, his right hand going to the white belt tied around her waist that held her battle kimono together, and undoing the knot.

Cool air hit Sayo's bare skin almost immediately, and her eyes widened as she realised what is going to happen to her.

He is going to violate her.

"Let me go!" Sayo tried struggling against the branches that held her limbs down onto the bed.

Any further protests were cut off as Hashirama immediately pressed his lips down onto hers and kissed her forcefully, slipping his tongue into her mouth, with his hands roaming about all over her body, despite her struggles. There was the sound of tearing fabric as Hashirama ripped her kimono and fishnet shirt off her body, attacking her neck with his mouth next.

Sayo closed her eyes, helpless to stop Hashirama's deeds to her body.

'_Madara… Help me…'_

**

* * *

**Madara frowned as he came to a stop on the tree branch that he is travelling on. The skies have turned dark by now, and he could barely see anything in this darkness, but that doesn't bother him in the slightest. He then looked down at Kamitari who is by his foot, the weasel's red eyes currently visible in the darkness.

"Kamitari, are you sure that it is this way?" Madara asked unsurely.

Kamitari nodded, an offended look on his face, not that Madara can really see it clearly. "Of course I'm sure!" he snapped, offended. "Do you doubt my nose or something? But there is another scent mixed up with Sayo's, Madara. It is the scent of Senju Hashirama."

Madara froze. "Are you sure?" he asked again.

"For the last time, I'm positive!" Kamitari snapped. "After the number of times that you've asked me to track his scent back during the time of the shinobi clan wars, there is no way that I would mix it up with another! Why are you asking?"

"Nothing much. But this way leads to the wooden cabin that belonged to the Senju clan of the Forest," said Madara with a frown. "Hashirama's wife, Uzumaki Mito-hime, had that built for her by Hashirama as per tradition with the Senju clan. The first born son of the clan head would build a personal house or cabin for his wife the moment that he got married. Mito-hime showed Sayo and me the cabin once about ten to fifteen years back. It's located away from Konoha in the Senju Forest, about ten miles south of the Valley of the End. No one but only Hashirama, Tobirama, Mito-hime, Sayo and me knew about this place. Not even the other clan members of the Senju clan knew about this place, as this is supposed to be a sanctuary for the Senju clan head and his wife."

Kamitari nodded slowly. "Madara, I don't know much about human affairs, but even I can tell that something isn't quite right," he said seriously. "And I know Sayo well as well, especially since she had been married to you for nearly twenty years now. She had never liked Senju Hashirama, despite you both being on good terms with his younger brother. I think that it had something to do with the fact that Seina's current comatose state has to do with him. She would never go anywhere with Senju Hashirama alone. She might probably go with Tobirama, but never with Hashirama."

"Yeah. I agree," said Madara with a worried look on his face. "But never mind that! Let's go after Hashirama and Sayo! I've got a really bad feeling about this."

**

* * *

**Madara soon made it to the cabin in record time.

The cabin was well hidden by the trees and plant life of the forest. So much so that if you didn't know the way to the cabin, you would never find it. It is meant to be the sanctuary for the Senju clan head and his wife, and thus, it had to be well-hidden.

Madara frowned as he spread out his chakra senses. He could only sense a rather faint chakra signal – almost like the chakra had been compressed, or the person's chakra network is currently all messed up. Madara then turned towards Kamitari. "Kamitari, thanks for the help. I'll reward you later."

Kamitari nodded. "Let me know everything that had happened later, Madara," he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Madara scowled before taking off towards the cabin, practically kicking the door in which gave way almost immediately. "Sayo! Are you here?" Madara shouted, panic in his tone.

His sharp ears then caught the sound of light sobbing coming from one of the rooms in the cabin which he knew is the bedroom of the cabin immediately. And a strong smell reached his nostrils just then as well, a smell which made him froze in his tracks.

A smell of semen, lust…and sex.

Almost like in a zombie-like trance, Madara made a beeline straight towards the room where he'd heard the sobbing coming from, and he pushed the door of the room lightly opened, almost afraid to see what he'll find in there. Madara then took a step forwards and stood at the entrance of the doorway.

The moonlight of the night had flooded the room, bathing it in the alluring light of the moon. But Madara is currently in no mood to admire the beauty of the moonlight. His attention is now entirely focused on the lithe sobbing figure currently on her knees atop the bed, one hand clenching the bedclothes on the bed, the other hand holding the torn garments of her kimono around her body, keeping it closed.

"…Sayo?" Madara whispered in shock, breathing heavily, especially after his run here.

Sayo raised tearstained eyes towards Madara before flinching slightly and turning her head away, unable to look at him in the eye, tightening her hold around the torn garments of her kimono. "Madara…" she whispered so softly that it is barely audible.

Madara took several quick strides forward before sitting by the bedside. He then put out one hand and touched Sayo's shoulder gently, not wanting to traumatise her more than she already is, since he already had a good idea of what had just transpired here, but he sincerely hoped that that is certainly not the case.

Sayo flinched away at his touch, and Madara almost felt his heart clench at that subtle action. "Sayo, what's wrong? What had just happened here? W-Who did this to you?"

Madara was taken aback when Sayo threw herself into his arms, grabbing fistfuls of his clothing as she did so. "Madara…just take me home… Just…take me home…"

Madara said nothing for a few moments as he shrugged out of his outer garment, placing it around Sayo, and pushing her gently away from his body slightly before lifting her into his arms, and she buried her face into his shoulder as he did so. "Let's go home."


	12. Leaving

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Leaving**

It was nearly three o'clock in the morning by the time that Madara had make it back to the village of Konoha with Sayo in his arms, and thus, he didn't meet anyone on the way back to the Uchiha clan compound – something which he is thankful for.

It is the redhead that is worrying Madara now though, as she hadn't said anything throughout the entire journey home, and hadn't released her hold on the inner layer of his garment throughout the entire trip back, no matter how much Madara had talked to her.

Sayo had always been the one who had understood him best throughout all the years of their marriage, and even before. Back then, when nearly everyone in the clan sans for his own father and Yuki, the head medic-nin, have accused him of murdering his own brother in cold blood for the sake of power, Sayo is the only one who had stuck by him and believed in him, no matter what the others have said.

And yet, what had happened earlier? Madara thinks that he might know the reason as to what had just transpired earlier, and Sayo's sudden subtleness, but he hoped that that is not the case, as he didn't even want to _think _that that had actually happened. He might not like Hashirama, and despite him knowing the guy for nearly all his life, though they've started out as enemies, he wanted to believe that Senju Hashirama is a man of honour and would never do such a thing. Furthermore, he is also a married man with a family of his own. Surely he would never bring shame to his own family by committing such an atrocious act?

Sayo finally released her hold on Madara when the latter laid her gently down onto their bed in the bedroom, with the redhead still refusing to look at him. Madara took out a fresh change of clothes from the wardrobe before sitting down on the bedside, sitting by Sayo.

"Sayo, you should get changed into a fresh change of clothes," said Madara in a low voice. "You'll probably feel better that way."

"Alright." Sayo muttered, still not looking at him.

Madara fisted his fingers against the edge of his outer garment around Sayo, and the redhead looked up at him with an unreadable look in her eyes. Madara smiled a small smile at her. "Can I?" he asked, and Sayo looked down again before nodding.

Madara gently took off the outer garment of his kimono around Sayo's body, revealing the damage caused to her own clothing, with all the rips and tears visible on the dark blue garment as well as the black ninja netted shirt, despite Madara not turning on the lights of the room. It is a full moon night that night, and the moonlight streamed into their bedroom fully.

Gently, Madara slipped off the torn garments around Sayo's body, finally baring her porcelain-like skin in the moonlight, and his sharp eyes noted the numerous bruises on her porcelain-like skin. There were dark bruises all around her neck, and he is sure that there is bound to be more bruises like that where her hair had covered some areas of her neck. There were even bruises all around her wrists, and several along her breasts as well.

Madara studied those bruises carefully without saying anything for several moments as he helped dress Sayo into the fresh change of clothes that he had retrieved from the wardrobe a few moments ago. He then recalled a very vague memory of his several years ago during the time of the shinobi clan wars when Seina had been examining a rape victim, with her clothes barely covering her modesty, and Seina had then chased both him and Izuna out of the infirmary. That girl from back then…she had the same type of injuries that Sayo now had.

Madara soon felt his legendary temper slowly bubble to the surface, and fought hard to not let his anger be shown on his face as well as to not allow his Sharingan to be activated unconsciously. "Sayo…" he almost growled, and Sayo looked up with surprised and slight fear for some reason. "Did…Hashirama rape you? Did he force himself on you?"

Sayo didn't answer right away, but the fresh onslaught of tears was enough answer for Madara. He growled low in his throat, feeling his anger slowly bubble itself to the surface, as he clenched his hands into fists slowly on his knees, something which Sayo saw instantly, and was alarmed by it. That Senju bastard had the _guts _to touch his wife? Madara swore then and there that he is going to make Senju Hashirama pay for it in blood, Hokage or not.

"It's kind of late now," said Madara. "It's getting late. Let's sleep."

Sayo nodded slowly before Madara peeled back the bedcovers and tucked Sayo in tenderly. "Madara…" Madara raised a brow as Sayo grabbed his sleeve, and she was looking at him with a worried and tense expression. "You're…not going to leave me, right?"

Madara smiled a small smile. "Silly." He lay down next to Sayo before enveloping her into his arms. "I won't. Go to sleep."

**

* * *

**Sayo was awake early the next morning even before anyone was up, even Madara. The man had his arms around Sayo in a protective embrace, his hair splaying over the pillow as he snored gently. It took Sayo several moments before she remembered what had happened the previous night, and she whimpered to herself in terror for several moments.

Why had she been so stupid as to turn her back on Hashirama? Then none of this would have ever happened! And what about Madara? Would he still want her especially after Hashirama had touched her?

"Can't sleep?"

It gave Sayo quite a start to hear Madara's voice, and to realise that he is actually awake. She muttered something before turning her body away so that her back is facing Madara, but the man didn't release his hold on her. "What's wrong?" Madara asked, genuinely confused. "Why aren't you looking at me?"

"Because you shouldn't have to!" Sayo nearly cried. "I… If I hadn't been so stupid or careless, then Hashirama wouldn't have… He wouldn't have…"

Madara was quiet for several moments before he rolled over Sayo, forcing her to lay flat on her back as he leaned over her, tilting her head slightly to force the redhead to look at him in the eye, and Madara's dark onyx eyes were shining with emotion. "So that's what this is about," he said. "Sayo, remember what I've told you on the night when I've asked you to marry me? I don't care what had happened to you. I still love you. You didn't ask for this to happen to you."

"But…"

"Sayo, do you trust me?"

Sayo nodded after a long while, and Madara smiled a small smile at her before leaning forwards and pressing his lips against hers in a passionate kiss, with Sayo's right hand and Madara's left hand clasped together, their fingers entwining with each other as Madara's other hand cradled the back of her neck as he kissed her.

Sayo gasped slightly at Madara's sudden act of kissing her, and he took advantage of it by suddenly plunging his mouth in and savouring her taste, his kisses becoming more passionate and quicker by the minute, causing Sayo to tense up for a few moments before she relaxed once more. She soon felt Madara's hands began caressing her body through the fabric of her clothing as she wrapped her arms around his neck and began to kiss him back just as passionately.

After what seemed like a long while, Madara suddenly broke the kiss, and looked at her seriously in the eye, brushing back some of her bangs that were covering her eyes. "Does that prove anything?" he asked seriously. "It doesn't matter to me what had happened. You're still clean and beautiful to me. Just like you were on the day when we've first met, and when you've agreed to marry me."

"Yeah."

Madara was silent for a long time as he contemplated something before he looked at Sayo in the eye. "Sayo, about Hashirama…" He trailed off slowly as Sayo tensed up at the mere mention of that name. "I'm going to have to take this matter to the clan council—"

"No!"

Madara soon grew concerned, as at the words 'Hashirama' and 'the clan council', Sayo grew positively terrified. "Sayo, this is a serious matter! You can't keep quiet about this," he said. "If the Hokage can do this to you, when what is to say that he won't do the same thing to others?"

"You can't! If everyone knew, then how am I going to face others in the future?"

"Sayo, no one else apart from the clan council will know," said Madara patiently. "No one hurts one of our own like this and get away with it. Especially not when that someone is the wife of the clan head!"

"But—"

"Sayo, I swear to you that I would not tell anyone else apart from the council." Madara interrupted, putting up a hand. "You know that the council is pretty good at keeping secrets. I won't let anyone say anything about this, and the clan won't want word of this getting out to the general populace anyway."

Sayo nodded slowly. "Madara, I want you to promise me something," she stated. "Do not go after Hashirama by yourself."

Madara can only stare. How the hell did Sayo even knew that he is planning to do just that? Can she read minds or something?

"I know you well enough. You were ready to commit murder all those years ago just because Senju Hashirama had hurt me unintentionally. Promise me that you won't go after him alone," said Sayo, grabbing Madara's hands in hers, and her eyes told Madara just how serious she was. "I know politics, Madara, something that you should know by now. If you go after Hashirama, you'll just be committing political and social suicide if you do so. He is the Hokage! And the Senju clan head! If you do anything to him at all…you know what will happen."

"But—" Madara tried to argue, knowing that he would never promise Sayo something like this. If truth be told, if he saw Senju Hashirama right now, he won't even know what he might do.

"_Promise me!" _Sayo insisted. "I can't lose you too! Izuna is already dead. He has been for nearly twenty years. And until today, I…still can't bring myself to tell Haru the truth behind his father's death, and that Seina is still alive. But who knows when she is going to wake up? You're all that's left to me, apart from Haru, and he has his own life, his own family. I can't disrupt his life. There are several things that I can't tell him, and that I would never let him know. Things that I will take to my own grave if necessary. Promise me…Madara."

Madara sighed. "Fine, I promise," he finally gave in. "I have to go and see the council now. Will you be alright on your own?"

"Yeah."

**XXXXXX**

"No."

Of all the things that Uchiha Madara had been expecting to hear from his own clan council when he had summoned them before swearing them all to secrecy before launching into a brief explanation about the events that had happened a few hours ago and then his decision to go after Senju Hashirama, it most definitely wasn't _this._

"Why not?"

One of the elders of the clan sighed. "Madara-sama, we understand your feelings on this matter, especially since it concerns Sayo-sama. But the Senju clan are the leaders of this village. If we attack them and demand for the head of Senju Hashirama, the entire village is going to think that we want to overtake the village. And given the long history and bad blood between both the Senju and Uchiha clans, the village is going to lean more towards the Senju then us, despite the standing in the village that we've gotten with Sayo-sama's work with the ninja forces of the village, and the fact that she's the village's head tactician. Madara-sama, Sayo-sama had always been well versed in politics, as the late Hideki-sama had taught her well before his death. You should know this as well. And I'm sure that Sayo-sama does too."

"Then you're just going to ignore what had happened to Sayo?" Madara almost growled.

"My condolences," said another elder. "But we cannot risk addressing the injustice done to just one person only, and risk endangering the entire clan as a result!"

Madara growled low in his throat. Just one person? Sayo is everything to him! "…the Uchiha clan has fallen." He growled. "We were on par with the Senju clan once upon a time that not even Senju Hashirama dared to face against us alone! I objected to the union back then because I knew that something like this would happen someday! And now you're trying to tell me that I should just stay silent after what that bastard had done to my wife?"

"What about you?" Another elder, one that neither Madara nor Sayo had liked despite all these years spoke up. "You killed Izuna-sama all those years back then just for the sake of power!"

"That's a different matter entirely!" Madara almost shouted. "We both wanted to protect the clan from the Senju and our enemies! We needed the power of the ultimate Mangekyou! It just so happens that I managed to beat Izuna in combat! If it had been Izuna who had been the one to beat me instead, then I would have gladly given up my life as well!"

"Those were just mere excuses!"

"We're not talking about Izuna here!" Madara's voice is getting louder and angrier by the minute. "I'll ask one more time. Are you going to ignore what the Senju clan had done to my wife? And don't forget that it is also because of Sayo that our clan had been able to enjoy such prestige! After all that she had done for the clan, you're just going to ignore it because it suits your means?"

There was silence for a very long time before the first elder from earlier spoke up, not looking at Madara in the face, looking quite guilty as he did so. "My apologies, Madara-sama. But for the sake of the clan, we can't afford to confront the Senju clan. And I'm sure Sayo-sama wouldn't want something like this to get out as well. Let it go, Madara-sama, and just forget about it."

**

* * *

**"I thought that something like this might happen." Sayo muttered once Madara had finished telling her everything, and with a remarkably angry tone as well, I might add. "Look at it from their point of view, Madara. The Senju clan are the leaders of this village, and even though we are also part of this village now, no one in the entire village had forgotten the long history and bad blood between both our clans. The reason why Hashirama and Tobirama have arranged for us both to be the ones to design the ninja system along with all the security measures and the ANBU forces is because that it is like a form of goodwill for them, and to show that they're willing to work together with their most hated enemies. That is only the first step in building the village back then. And with two of Fire Country's most powerful clans working together, any clan would be an idiot to not work together with us. That's what it had meant back then. And the fact that all the clans were tired of fighting and all these endless battles and fights also helped in that favour."

"That maybe so, but…" Madara muttered. "I'm still indignant over this! And why aren't you more upset about it?"

"I'm a kunoichi." Sayo stated like it explained everything which probably does.

There were plenty of Uchihas in the clan who have often commented that Madara and Sayo are like fire and water – complete opposites to each other, and yet extremely similar as well. If Madara is the hot headed one, then Sayo is the calm collected one.

"But even if I understand the clan's reasoning in doing this, I…can't stay here any longer, Madara." Sayo admitted, and Madara sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I kind of get what you mean as I can't stay here as well." Madara muttered before he held Sayo close to him. "We're getting out of here. And furthermore, I think that we stand a better chance of keeping track of 'him' and his organisation out there than here in the village."

Sayo knew who that 'him' was, and she sighed. "Hiore?" she stated more than questioned, and Madara nodded.

"Yeah, and Raven's Gate. I don't think that we've seen the last of them back then, even with you taking out nearly half of their numbers back when we had that conflict over the Hokage's seat," said Madara darkly. "It's probably best for us to leave."

"Hashirama will most likely come after us." Sayo concluded. "Not only because of what we knew about him, but also because we're two of the most powerful ninjas in Konoha, and we also happened to be the founders of this village. We knew everything about Konoha that rival villages would probably kill to get, and I did form the ANBU, the security system as well as the ninja training regime after all."

"Don't worry about it. I'll deal with it if that ever happens," said Madara darkly. He then sighed. "Let's head to the Moon Country where Seina is. It had been pretty difficult of late to sneak away to visit her like we could back during the time of the shinobi clan wars, and I know that you miss her. We'll head to the Moon Country, and we'll build our own village there. I'll make it stronger and much more powerful than Konoha, and we'll then see who had the last laugh."

Sayo smiled. "Yeah."

**XXXXXX**

Sayo and Madara met no one when they made it to the entrance of the Uchiha clan compound, despite it being early afternoon, with both of them only bringing their weapons with them, as they are ninjas after all, and they could survive easily with just weapons with them and the clothes on their backs.

But much to their surprise, they ran into Haru at the entrance of the Uchiha clan compound, with the twenty-three year old looking particularly solemn, and both Sayo and Madara guessed right then and there that Haru must have known about this particular affair to a certain extent.

"Haru…" Sayo muttered, both she and Madara stopping in their tracks.

Haru sighed as he turned and faced them. "Ojii-san and obaa-san…you're going?" he stated more than questioned. "I've only heard a little of what had happened, but I know enough." He glanced from Sayo to Madara and back again. "Are you both really leaving?"

"Haru…" Madara muttered. He then sighed. "I'm sorry, but you understand why we have to do such a thing."

"Then I'm coming with you." Haru stated.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Haru, you have to understand that the Senju and the Uchiha clans have been bitter enemies and rivals for generations ever since the time of the shinobi clan wars," said Sayo. "If we turn missing-nin, the Senju clan are going to send the best after us, and I'm pretty certain that Hashirama and Tobirama will probably go after us. Madara and I are alright since we could handle ourselves easily against those two, but you stand no chance against shinobis of their calibre! Furthermore, you still have your wife and your child, with another child on its way. You can't just leave them behind!"

"But—!"

"Haru." Madara interrupted, putting up one hand to silence Haru. "I promised your father back then when he had died that I'll protect you. No matter what, I _will_ protect you, even at the cost of my life. It is the least that I could do for Izuna. Please don't make me break my promise."

"Ojii-san…"

"Haru, we can't have children of our own because of the Eternal Mangekyou," said Madara with a sigh, reaching out with one hand and ruffling his nephew's hair. _'And neither can we age, as time had stopped for us on the day when we have attained our Eternal Mangekyous…more than twenty years ago.' _"You're like a son to me…to us. After Izuna and Seina have…died—" Haru didn't seem to notice that slight pause between Madara's words, but Sayo did. "—we brought you up from when you're just a little toddler just learning to tootle on your own. You're the closest thing to a son that we have, and that is enough for us. You're the clan heir now. We can't stay here any longer for various reasons. Thus, the Uchiha clan is your responsibility from now on. We'll leave the clan to you from here on out."

Haru nodded, a determined look on his face. "Hai."

"My apologies, but we'll likely cause a lot of trouble for the clan and more trouble for you to handle with our leaving and with our 'betrayal'," said Sayo with a wan smile. "Forgive us, Haru."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, obaa-sama," said Haru with a small smile.

"I guess so," said Sayo with a small smile. "Haru, if you show the clan your sincerity and your courage, they'll accept you as their leader, just like how they've accepted Madara. Also, I'm leaving Danzo and Orochimaru to you. I'm worried about those two."

Haru nodded. "Leave them to me."

**XXXXXX**

_Valley of the End  
Fire Country_

"Madara. Wait." Sayo stopped in her step atop the Valley of the End – the waterfall area near the southern borders of Fire Country, and she turned to look over her shoulder, not releasing her hold on Madara's arm.

Madara frowned when he sensed what Sayo had, and he muttered something incoherent beneath his breath, though they suspiciously sounded like swear words. "So they're here at last."

It didn't take longer than a few moments before the forms of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama appeared on the other side of the Valley of the End where the two Uchihas were standing. Silence fell between them for several moments before Senju Hashirama took one step forwards, a frown on his face.

"Why are you two doing this? You should know that treason against the village meant a death sentence, yes? Sayo, you wrote up the laws. You should know that."

"'Why are we doing this'?" Madara repeated his words slowly, a tick slowly forming on his forehead, and a particularly dangerous tone entered his voice, so much so that even Tobirama unconsciously took one step backwards in fear. "Do you really have to ask me why? You fucking bastard! You _raped _my wife, and you expect me to stay silent, and to stay on in that pathetic excuse of a place that you call a village?" Tobirama's eyes widened in shock and horror at Madara's words, and a quick look at his brother's face and Sayo's expression told him all that he needed to know. "What the hell are you high on? After what you did to Seina all those years ago, then you should full well know that if you touch my family or my friends, there'll be hell to pay."

"Why, whatever could you be talking about?" Hashirama questioned in a suspiciously false voice.

Madara growled before he took one look at Sayo and took one step forwards, one hand on the hilt of his sword by his side. "It wasn't my intention to go after you and to lob your head off for what you had done to Sayo," he almost growled. "I admit that it kind of sounds tempting, but my first priority is Sayo. I'm not about to let her stay in a place where she had been hurt so badly, and where a place which we'd thought is safe had such a thing happening to her. I was going to take her away and to go to a place where no one knew us, and where no one could find us. But you just have to appear in front of us, don't you? Senju Hashirama, I'll fucking kill you right here. I'll end what I should have ended all those years ago!"

Hashirama's eyes glinted dangerously as he placed one hand on the hilt of his sword by his side. "By that look in your eyes, you not only want to kill me, do you?" he questioned.

Madara growled rather like a ferocious dog, partially unsheathing his sword with a flick of his thumb. "That's right! Not only do I want to kill you, I want to violently hack you into pieces!" He then turned towards Sayo. "Sayo, stay back. Don't interfere in this."

Sayo nodded, understanding that this is a battle for Madara alone – a battle for his pride.

Over with the Senju brothers, Hashirama turned towards his brother. "Tobi, you too. Don't interfere."

"Nii-san—"

"Just don't do anything," said Hashirama. "I'll put this to an end today." He then turned towards Madara. "How about we take this down below?"

Madara growled. "Fine by me," he said. "And you don't have to worry about Sayo. She won't interfere."

The two respective clan heads of their individual clans, though one was a 'self-retired' clan head, then disappeared with a quick flash, and appeared down below at the foot of the Valley of the End where a large lake was, both with their swords partially unsheathed. Tobirama and Sayo then exchanged silent looks between them both before stepping closer to the edge of the Valley of the End to look down at the soon to begin showdown between Madara and Hashirama both.

"Sayo, you're not going to help him?" Tobirama asked without looking at Sayo, merely looking down below him where there were just red and black flashes along with the occasional clang of metal on metal as Hashirama and Madara went at each other ferociously with weapons and jutsus flying about all over the place. A stray fire jutsu actually went whizzing past Tobirama's head just then, barely missing his precious hair by mere inches.

"I don't have to," said Sayo, not taking her eyes off of Madara, being able to follow the movements of the two below her as like the other three currently present in the Valley of the End, she is also a veteran from the time of the shinobi clan wars – an era so horrifying and terrifying in the entire history of the shinobi ages. "You should know this as well. Madara is strong."

"So is my brother," said Tobirama.

Sayo said nothing for several moments. "Madara will be alright," she said. "Whether win or lose, he won't die. Furthermore, you should fully well know the reason why we are leaving. Or do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

"No, you don't have to," said Tobirama, closing and opening his eyes. "He is my brother, but even I know that he isn't without his faults. My sister-in-law has never truly been happy during these past twenty or so years that she had been married to him. My brother had never loved her, as he is still infatuated with you, despite it having been nearly twenty years. He is stubborn, just like our father, and he doesn't like to admit that he is wrong, and he doesn't like to lose as well. I had a pretty good idea of what had happened last night, and not to mention that Madara-san had just shouted it out to the world earlier. Probably…if I am you, I would have done the same thing."

The two then fell silent and focused on the battle currently taking place below them just then.

**

* * *

**Things were pretty even between both Madara and Hashirama, despite it having been over twenty years ever since they have last exchanged blows against each other.

Having been bitter rivals and enemies ever since their early childhood days as both their clans were bitter enemies and rivals for generations, the two have fought against each other more times than both could count ever since they were both children. And as such, it is almost like they could read each other's minds and movements.

Hashirama would probably use his Mokuton to entrap Madara, but the latter would then use a powerful Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu to burn it all away. The Uchiha would then follow up with several taijutsu moves, but Hashirama would somehow be able to dodge it all. It'll probably take a miracle for a move to even hit one of them, at this rate.

"You're as powerful and as skilled as you were before, Madara-san," said Hashirama with a smirk.

"I don't need to hear that from you." Madara growled.

"Should I show you how I've kissed Sayo back then?" Hashirama smirked at Madara's enraged look, and the hand gripping the hilt of his katana tightened so much that his knuckles turned white. "Like this." And he grabbed Madara by the arm before pressing his lips against his, and breaking away immediately the moment that Madara tried to take his head off.

"You bastard…" Madara growled, spitting out some spittle, trying to get Hashirama's taste out of his mouth. "You act all righteous and good to the village, but inside, you're nothing but a two faced lying bastard! At least we knew that Raven's Gate is against us, but you… You've gone and stabbed us in the back! That's even worse!"

Something came whistling towards Hashirama's initial direction just then, and right on instinct, the Senju head leapt backwards just as a horde of black flames surrounded the area where he had been standing on moments prior.

"Amateratsu?" Madara muttered, eyeing the black flames before Sayo appeared by him in a flash with one of her summoned wolves by her side, looking particularly ferocious, with Tobirama beside Hashirama. "Sayo?"

"Usually, I would never do this," said Sayo with a growl. "But you've gone and pissed me off, Senju Hashirama! Aotori!" She turned towards the wolf by her side who nodded and howled with his snout pointing towards the skies.

For a moment, nothing happened. But then, just as quickly as it had started, darkness started converging on the skies, and much to the other three ninjas' disbelief, it was like a huge chunk had been bitten out of the sun as a dark shadow passed in front of it before slowly covering the sun, with darkness falling onto the earth.

"W-What the…?" Hashirama muttered in shock.

"A solar eclipse?" Tobirama muttered next.

"I'll let you both in on a little secret." Sayo stated. "There is a reason why I rarely use my summoned wolves for combat unless I have no other choice. Their power is too great in order to be controlled, even for me. That's why they're pretty picky about who they let summon them. This is one of their greater techniques, the Moon Eclipse, and the reason why they're one of the legendary summoning contracts out there, and what gives them their name of the Night Wolves. They control the darkness and the light. As long as it is in a place where darkness or light touches, you are in my domain."

"Sayo, it's still not too late," said Hashirama, ignoring Aotori's warning growl and Madara's glare. "Come with me. There is no one who loves you more than I do. Madara-san can't even protect you. He doesn't deserve you."

"I've told you before: the person I love is Madara, and he only," said Sayo, and Madara wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she placed one hand on his chest, glaring at Hashirama. "And you are the one who had hurt me, not him. And besides, you don't love me. You don't love even Mito-hime. You love no one but yourself!"

Hashirama growled, an angry look appearing in his eyes. "So be it. If you wish it that way," he said before he stretched out one hand before him. "If I can't have you, then no one shall! In order to have you all to myself, I'll have no other choice but to kill you!"

And a horde of tree spikes sharper than even spears were launched towards Sayo's initial direction just then, and she didn't have enough time to get out of the way.

"Sayo!"

Sayo felt someone shoving her hard away from the direction of the tree spikes that Hashirama had conjured up, and she fell against the ground. As she looked up again, her eyes widened in horror when she saw that Madara had intercepted those spikes which had gone though his body and out through the other side.

"Madara…"

"You're a fool, Madara." Hashirama hissed, ignoring Tobirama's horror struck face. "You would willingly throw your own life away like this?"

"I've told you." Madara coughed out blood, with the crimson liquid trailing from the sides of his lips as he pulled out the tree spikes from his body one by one, causing blood to pool around his feet as he did so. "Sayo is the most important thing in my life. I would willingly give up my own life if it meant that she could live on. I love her. I would gladly give up anything just to see her smile and to see that she is well. But it's not something that someone like you would ever understand…since you hold no love in your heart." He coughed out more blood, and Hashirama's eyes flashed.

"Die, Uchiha!" Hashirama snarled as he sent another horde of tree branches with sharp spikes towards Madara.

But a horde of black flames intercepted those branches before it could reach Madara, with the flames turning into silver-white flames as it did so, travelling down the branches until it reaches Hashirama, and setting him on fire itself. Hashirama's cries just about drowned out every single sound in the vicinity just then.

"Nii-san!" Tobirama cried out, trying to use his water jutsu to douse the fire.

"It's no use, Tobirama," said Sayo, and Tobirama turned only to see Sayo catching hold of an unconscious Madara in her arms. "Those are cursed flames. Flames from Hell itself, and as hot as the eye of the sun itself. It'll burn on for eternity until everything that it catches fire on is gone. It is more fearsome than the flames of Amateratsu itself."

"Sayo…"

"I will never forgive you and the village," said Sayo, glaring at Tobirama, her eyes morphing unconsciously into her Sharingan, and Tobirama's eyes widened when he saw that ripple pattern in her eyes. This is actually the first time that Sayo had activated her doujutsu around him, and just what is that ripple pattern? "I curse you. I curse you and your clan and the accursed village. You who took away everything that had ever mattered to me…to us… You who had stood aside as everything turned on us. You who had turned your eyes away from your brother's sins. You who had turned away from the village's misdeeds. I hate, I despise you and your feasts, your celebrations, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. I curse you, you, the village, the Senju, and the Uchiha clan! Even if I'm dead, I still curse you! I will never forgive you for this. The village will run deep with blood until the day that my anger is appeased!"

With that, Sayo slung one of Madara's arms around her shoulders before leaping off the waterfall and down into the waters, never to be seen again. It'll be a long time before anyone in Fire Country and the village of Konoha will ever see the two famous figures from the Uchiha clan and two of the four founders of the village, if ever again.


	13. Sad Seeing

**_IMPORTANT NOTE: THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANGE TO THE TIME FRAME FOR THE TIME SKIP IN THIS CHAPTER. I DIDN'T REALLY CHANGE ANYTHING MUCH BUT THE TIME SKIP OF THE NUMBER OF YEARS AS I'VE REALISED THAT I MADE A MISTAKE REGARDING THE TIME FRAME. IT IS 30 YEARS AFTER SAYO AND MADARA HAVE LEFT WHEN THE THIRD GREAT SHINOBI WAR BEGUN, WHICH WOULD MAKE JIRAIYA IN HIS LATE TWENTIES TO EARLY THIRTIES, AND MINATO, SAKUMO AND FUGAKU AROUND THE AGE OF TWENTY TWO OR SO._**

There will be a several years' time skip in this chapter to the time of the Third Great Shinobi War. And to answer a few questions that someone had posed to me in a review some time back, someone was asking that if the past that Sayo had ended up in and the future timeframe that she had grown up in is the 'same world', then why wasn't her name mentioned much during the Valley of the End incident?

This is just a brief explanation, but I do know that in olden times, women are generally despised and looked down upon, and I'm basing that same behaviour in this fic as well. During the time of the shinobi clan wars, and during the era of the founding of Konoha, women were generally looked down upon, and most married women were treated as a trophy wives, and generally not treated very well.

Thus the reason why no one had said or done anything about Mito's married life, and her unhappiness, despite her being from a noble clan. During the time of the shinobi clan wars, once a daughter is married off, her maiden home is no longer her home, and from then on, her home and place is in her husband's home. She is no longer allowed to return to her maiden home unless she has prior permission from her husband.

This is what happened with Sayo.

It is true that she had great standing, influence and power in a time when women are generally looked down upon, and kunoichis aren't treated with respect. But please remember that she is still a female, and the women of that time are generally looked down upon by the general populace. And not to mention the fact that Tobirama would never want the truth behind Sayo and Madara's betrayal to leak out, as it would not only shame his own clan and his brother's immediate family, but also possibly the Uchiha clan.

Tobirama is generally more mature than his brother, and wanted to do anything to make up to the Uchiha clan thanks to the actions of his brother. Thus the reason why he had allowed Ne to continue to exist even after the war, and did nothing to 'punish' the Uchiha clan when the two most prominent members of the Uchiha clan have betrayed the village.

I hope that this explains matters, and also another matter to explain.

I _know _that my updates have been a little slow for ALL my stories of late. But I beg of you to _please _bear this in mind: I am still a student in art school, and I am up to my neck in work with assignments and projects, and hadn't been getting a good night's sleep for nearly two months ever since term had begun! It's a miracle that I am actually able to update at all! If I'm lucky and feeling up to it, I _might _be able to update on every Sunday night or something.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Sad Seeing**

Uchiha Sayo decided very firmly when her head had broken through the surface of the water after having been dragged downstream nearly twenty miles, and having nearly passed out due to lack of oxygen in the water thanks to the strong currents that had dragged her underwater, that she never wanted to jump straight into the waterfall from the Valley of the End ever again.

It is true that she had lived nearly all her life – or at least, as much as she could remember – in Fire Country, but how was she supposed to know that the strong currents that follows the water of the river downstream is nearly as powerful as twenty swimmers combined?

Sayo coughed harshly against the banks of the riverside where she had washed up in somewhere in Moon Country, coughing up some water from her lungs, with Madara slumped unconscious next to her, blood following the flow of the river, with Atotori nosing Sayo's hand, giving the occasional whine.

Sayo sighed and rubbed Atotori's head, and the grey wolf growled slightly with pleasure. She then quickly turned towards Madara and checked his pulse, sighing in relief when she found that it's still beating strong, and that he had merely passed out due to blood loss. But Sayo knew her husband well, and knew that something like that isn't enough to kill him.

"Atotori." Sayo spoke, turning towards her familiar who nodded, and the smoky grey wolf turned his snout towards the moon and howled a piercing howl that is enough to send chills down anyone's spines. But to Sayo who is the first and only summoner of the Night Wolves, that howl is soothing and calming to her – almost like a lullaby of some sort.

Atotori nodded before gripping the sleeve of Sayo's kimono in his teeth, with the redhead gripping onto Madara before dark shadows weaved around Atotori, Sayo and Madara before all three vanished into the shadows.

They soon reappeared again within the cave where Sayo and Madara have hidden Seina several years ago in fear for her safety should anyone found out that Seina hasn't aged at all ever since she had lapsed into a coma thanks to Senju Hashirama's attack on her.

Sayo coughed harshly for several moments before performing a series of quick hand seals and slamming it on the ground where a large cloud of smoke appeared. And when the smoke had faded away, two wolves around the size of a full grown house dog, with one having pure silver fur, the other black fur, standing in front of her.

The female wolf, the one with the silver fur, had a kind look and disposition to her face, with the red bandanna that every Night Wolf had tied around her neck. Her companion was a tad bit larger than her in size, with a black eye patch over his left eye, with a scar running down that same eye as well. And like most of the wolves in the wolf summon clan that Sayo had a contract with, the two wolves have golden eyes.

Sayo sighed in relief when the two wolves – Shiri and Kane appeared in front of her. Those two wolves, along with the right hand wolves of the boss of the wolf clan – Tsuki and Taiyou, alongside her familiar, Atotori, were the wolves that she summons the most, though she hadn't summoned them for a long time now.

"Sorry. But can you both stand guard for a few hours, and inform me if there are any intruders?" Sayo asked breathlessly.

Kane, the male wolf nodded. His mate, Shiri, sniffed at Sayo for several moments before turning towards Madara and sniffing him as well. She finally seemed satisfied about something before turning towards Sayo with a reproaching look. Shiri is the mother hen of the Night Wolves, and even Taiyou and Tsuki, the only two wolves who are second in status to the boss summon of the Night Wolves are afraid to get Shiri angry.

"In trouble again, Sayo?" Shiri asked, before the wolf shook her head. "Well, it isn't really like it is any of my business. And it looks like you have it all under control. I'll keep a look out. Atotori will stay with you, so I'll know that you'll be safe at least."

Sayo nodded before Atotori who was standing behind the redhead looked extremely proud at that, and stood upright, almost like trying to prove to Shiri something. Kane looked extremely amused at that, and Sayo hid a small smile.

She knew that Atotori is a very young wolf when he was first appointed as her familiar by Santen, the alpha of the legendary wolf summons clan – the Night Wolves. Atotori was probably still considered a child, a pup in the clan, when he was first appointed as her familiar, and he was then determined to prove himself that he is as good a warrior as anyone else.

The young wolf of that time made plenty of blunders and mistakes that he often got himself and Sayo injured – a fact that Santen, Taiyou and Tsuki were far from pleased with. There was one time about a year or two before the Senju clan had approached the Uchiha clan for the alliance when Taiyou actually wanted to appoint another wolf as Sayo's familiar. But at that time, Sayo, bless her heart, refused, as she had seen how disheartened and sad Atotori was, and the wolf had also grown on her. Thankfully, everything had worked out fine after that, and Atotori is now one of the finest combat wolves in the Night Wolf clan, having been declared as a full grown adult five years ago when he had passed the rites of supremacy in the clan by battling Kane in a battle for first blood, with both Shiri and Kane being the 'mentors' for the younger wolves of the clan.

Sayo then turned towards Madara as Shiri and Kane walked towards the entrance of the cave and sat there on their haunches, partially blocking the moonlight with their bodies. Sayo pressed both her hands atop Madara's chest before focusing her healing chakra into his body, hoping that the special chakra that Madara had gained after having attained his Eternal Mangekyou would kick in and start healing his body.

"I'll protect you." Sayo whispered. "No matter what, I'll protect you."

**XXXXXX**

_Year 1898, five years after the desertion of the Leaf village, Konohagakure no sato, by Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo, marks the start of rumours filtering all over the elemental nations of a new mysterious ninja village located in Tsuki no kuni (Moon Country), and which no one who is not a member of the village will be able to gain access to. The only time when outsiders will be able to see or even gain access to the village is on the nights of the new moon when the village will then appear to the human eye, and then again, it is also extremely difficult for outsiders to gain access to the village._

_Tsukigakure no sato (Hidden Village in the Moon) is a relatively new village, yet already had several positive views by their clients, and the other villages and towns in Tsuki no kuni were pleased to have an official ninja village in their country when they usually have to resort to turning to other ninja villages whenever they require ninja services. _

_As Tsuki no kuni is a country well known for its healing flowers, medic arts and mining minerals, their income had skyrocketed ever since Tsukigakure no sato had came into existence, and their daimyo was more than happy with his new ninja village._

_The other ninja villages, especially Konoha, Iwa and Kumo, were curious about this new village however, but all attempts to find out more about this village came up negative. The people of Moon Country weren't too pleased to have strangers from rival countries trying to find out about their ninja village, and refused to tell them anything about Tsukigakure no sato save for the fact that their Shodaime Tsukikage is a young man who had founded the village with his young wife. Apparently, his wife is the one that had been going around recruiting potential people for their village whilst the husband is the one overseeing the building of the village. _

_All that the neighbouring ninja villages knew about Tsukigakure no sato is that their shinobis could be easily identified by a hitai-ate with a crescent moon symbol, and that there is also a saying about the village: 'All who comes to Tsukigakure no sato will be given second chances'._

**XXXXXX**

_Twenty Years Later  
__Konohagakure no sato_

"Itai!" Twelve year old Uchiha Fugaku flinched in pain as Jiraiya placed a band aid on his nose none too gently.

"I've never seen anyone as reckless as you before in my entire life!" Jiraiya sighed with exasperation, closing the first aid box beside him with a light clap. "Trying to fight a Hyuuga _jounin _all by yourself when you are just a mere _genin? _Fugaku, don't you think that you are in a little over your head?"

Namikaze Minato, the team captain of that generation's team seven sighed and eyed a look at his teammate before exchanging looks with his sheepish looking best friend, Hyuuga Hiashi, before turning back towards his jounin sensei. "Jiraiya-sensei, please talk some sense into him!" Minato said with a sigh. "We can't be there to save him every single time!"

Fugaku scowled at his teammate as he heard that. "I don't need saving!" he scowled.

Minato nearly rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'll believe that the day that you stop picking fights with _jounins," _he said sternly. "If Hiashi hadn't been there to stop that Hyuuga, he would have killed you. _What were you thinking?" _He then shook his head. "No. You weren't even thinking at all." The blonde sighed. "Fugaku, I understand your feelings when that Hyuuga insulted your clan, but you shouldn't have done that."

"Minato." Jiraiya interrupted. "Stop that. I won't deny that Fugaku is a little rash this time, but if I were him, I would have probably done the same thing." He sighed, and all three genins looked at their teacher. "I wonder what Sayo-sensei would have done or said if she is still here now?" He wondered.

"'Sayo-sensei'?" Hiashi echoed. "Sensei, isn't your sensei the Sandaime Hokage?"

"Hmm? Oh. I don't mean my jounin instructor," said Jiraiya. "I meant the very first teacher that I and Orochi had when we were both small children and still in the Academy. She is one of the first teachers that Konoha had at that time, and one of their most celebrated kunoichis during a time when kunoichis are generally looked down upon."

"Who?" asked Minato, racking his brains whilst trying to figure out which kunoichi had taught his sensei during that time in history.

Jiraiya sighed. "The founder of the ANBU corps, and also the developer of the current ninja training system that the village uses until today, and also the one to design and develop the entire security measurements that the village had which no shinobi had managed to penetrate so far." He glanced at the faces of the three young genins as they dawned in realisation. "Uchiha Sayo."

"Sayo-sama…?" Fugaku nearly whispered.

The name of the most celebrated kunoichi of that era, along with her husband was spoken with dark tones among the village of Konoha, despite the Nidaime Hokage's attempts to stop it. But among the Uchiha clan, she is one of their most respected ancestors who had helped to prosper the clan until they had what they now hold today.

"I see that you three knew who she is," said Jiraiya with a sigh. "That's right. I was trained by her. One of Leaf's first 'traitors'. But I do not believe for an instant that she left the village because she wants to. Sayo-sensei loves the village more than anyone else. The civilians and some of the shinobis might want to believe that it is the Senju clan and the two Hokages who have helped to build the village to what it is today, but I know better. It is Sayo-sensei's work. She isn't like most of the other Uchihas, and she is also the only Uchiha female to hold a high ranking position in the village in history at a time when the women of that era had zero saying in the affairs of the clan and the village. But Sayo-sensei is different. Almost the entire clan respected her, along with the village, sans for a few. She, along with her husband, Uchiha Madara, were the two people among the four who have helped to build Konoha and the Uchiha clan to what it is today. I know that she left for a good reason back then, but the village refused to see that." Jiraiya sighed. "That's just how narrow minded people can be, and that is also the kind of world that we lived in."

**XXXXXX**

_Thirty Years Later  
__Third Great Shinobi War_

Thirty years after Sayo and Madara's departure from Konohagakure no sato marks the start of the Third Great Shinobi War.

The elemental nations have also seen a great number of changes throughout these years, with the most prominent one being that several other ninja villages have also started forming themselves in various places, with the ninjas slowly adapting to the system of ninja villages and the training system. And naturally, with all these ninja villages getting formed one after the other, a hierarchy of some sort had also taken place, with the six most powerful and largest shinobi villages being named as 'the six main villages', with those villages being Konoha (Hi no kuni), Suna (Kaze no kuni), Iwa (Iwa no kuni), Kumo (Rai no kuni), Kiri (Mizu no kuni) and Tsuki (Tsuki no kuni).

Of these six main villages, Tsukigakure no sato is by far, the most mysterious of the lot, as apart from those few occasions when the village had sent their genins to the chuunin exams, no one had seen their ninjas sans for those few occasions when they have ran into Tsuki-nins by chance on missions. And even during the chuunin exams, it is only a rare chance that Tsuki will actually send their genins to the public chuunin exams.

Most of the time, that village held their own chuunin exams. But no one can deny that their shinobis are powerful, as even their genins are about as skilled as an experienced chuunin. And so far, no one knew anything about their village and even their leader, though there have been rumours going around that the kage of Tsukigakure no sato is still the Shodaime Tsukikage, and that the Shodaime had a bloodline that doesn't allow him to age or even die.

No one knew if it is a mere rumour or if it is true, but there have been several attempts made throughout the years to uncover anything about the village, but so far, no village had managed to turn up anything, even the exact location of their village, though it is true that messenger birds somehow managed to reach them.

And with the hierarchy of sorts among the ninja villages is bound to invite trouble as well as pride getting trampled on, as is in the case of the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure.

The fact that Konoha, being one of the youngest villages among the six main villages is ranked at the top of the list, and said to be the strongest and most powerful of the six main villages isn't sitting well with the rest of the other villages. Granted, Tsuki is the youngest among the six, but no one even knew where their village is located, and they do not flaunt their strength and superiority like Konoha did which at least appeased the other kages. But Konoha don't.

And as such, Onoki, the Tsuchikage finally lost patience at having his toes trampled on again and again, and finally decided to 'put Konoha in their place'. Kumo and Suna, both villages that were both getting irritated at Konoha jumped at the chance to get back at the Leaf village, and joined forces together with Iwa.

The Tsuchikage would have asked Kiri and Tsuki to aid him in this war, but Kiri is busy with their own civil war after the idiot of a Yondaime Mizukage had practically declared war on his own village by ordering an attack on the Whirlpool Country, which majority of Kiri's inhabitants think of them as heroes of some sort. Thus, Kiri is out.

As no one knew the exact location of Tsuki, Onoki couldn't send an emissary to their village, and had to send a messenger bird instead, praying that his messenger bird wouldn't send the message to the wrong village.

It seems like the messenger bird did head to the correct village alright, as not even three days later, Onoki got the fright of his life one day whilst doing paperwork when a scroll suddenly poofed into existence on his desk right in front of him, bearing the seal of the Shodaime Tsukikage.

In that scroll, the Tsukikage had stated firmly but politely, that he has no intention to bring his village into a war that they have no interest in waging, though they aren't that fond of Konoha themselves. But while they have no intention to assist Onoki in this war, they wouldn't help Konoha as well.

And it is also because of the Third Great Shinobi War that one can find Hatake Sakumo and his ANBU team out in the middle of enemy territory in a very dangerous position.

**XXXXXX**

_Unknown Location  
__Iwa no kuni_

Hatake Sakumo, the legendary White Fang of Konohagakure no sato sighed as he stood at the edge of the hill that overlooks one of the northern outposts of Iwa, along with the warehouse that stocked grain and food for the country in the event of famines or disasters.

The man himself is already a legend in Konoha and in all elemental continents for his marvellous tracking skills and his combat skills, that some people in Konoha affectionately gave him the nickname 'White Fang' because of his silver hair, and the fact that he can track anyone as well as a wolf. Hatake Sakumo had already gained quite a reputation for himself in tracking and demolition purposes for all his tender age of twenty seven, and it is also because of that reputation that Hokage-sama himself had sent Sakumo and his ANBU team out to Iwa territory to destroy one of Iwa's main shinobi outposts and warehouses to tilt the turn of the war into their favour.

Originally, only Sakumo and his ANBU team are supposed to be sent out for this mission – a team consisting of only four people as is standard protocol. But Shimura Danzo, the commander of that underground ANBU organisation 'Ne' seemed a tad bit worried about this mission, and had insisted that Sakumo take a medic along with him on this mission despite the Hokage's protests that five people would be a little too conspicuous. However, Danzo wouldn't listen to any arguments on the Hokage's part, and when Orochimaru had backed Danzo up, the Hokage had finally given in.

And it is whilst Sakumo's team was in the area surrounding their targets that Sakumo finally realised why Danzo had been so worried.

There are a ridiculous number of guards guarding both the warehouse and the outpost 24/7, and Sakumo is ready to bet that there are also an equally large number of guards _inside _both buildings. The guard detail and the mapping area doesn't correspond to the details that Sakumo and his team were given, and the silver haired man is ready to bet that someone must have switched his mission details or that one of the village's spies must have given false information.

Sakumo sighed. He just wants to get this mission over and done with, and go back home to his seven-year-old chuunin son who is excitedly waiting for his father to be back so that they can celebrate Kakashi making chuunin together with Kakashi's sensei and Sakumo's best friend, Namikaze Minato, and Minato's girlfriend of five years, Uzumaki Kushina.

Sakumo sighed again as he looked down at the guards patrolling the two buildings that they were supposed to destroy. It made the silver haired man wished for the hundredth time that night that he had accepted Jiraiya's offer six years ago to let him sign the toad summon contract when he had heard that Sakumo didn't have a summoning contract.

"Taichou." Sakumo turned only to see the rest of his team returning from scouting. "It's no good. Security is too tight for us to even penetrate. We'll likely walk to our deaths if we even attempt to approach the outpost."

"Then what should we do now?" Another disgruntled member of his squad snapped. "We can't fail this mission!"

"If you would rather meet the death god early, Taro, be my guest! But leave me out of it!"

"Are you a ninja or not? To be afraid of death is a pathetic thing for a ninja!"

"To die an honourable death and to die like a fool are two entirely different things!"

The other two members of Sakumo's squad watched the argument with their heads whipping to one and to the other almost like they were watching a tennis rally of some sort. Sakumo sighed, feeling his migraine getting worse as the two argued almost like an old married couple.

"Alright, E~NOUGH!" Sakumo finally snapped, feeling his migraine about to get worse as the arguing incensed. "Just how much longer are you both going to argue like an old married couple when we should be discussing about how we're going to handle our mission?"

The two arguing members of his squad blushed.

"Gomen, taichou."

Sakumo sighed. "Just what did I do to Hokage-sama that he gave me these two morons for my ANBU team?" he muttered beneath his breath, but because of the quiet forest clearing that they were in, all four of the ANBU members with him heard what he said.

_Rustle._

The rustle of the bushes behind them caused all five ANBUs to get to their feet immediately with weapons in their hands. They are in enemy territory after all; they can't be too careless. The bushes rustled even more, and Sakumo narrowed his eyes as he tightened his grip on his tanto, wondering if it is an Iwa-nin.

The bushes rustled one final time before a dark shadow emerged out of the bushes, revealing it to be a beautiful silver wolf with golden eyes and a red bandanna tied around its neck, looking at them curiously. Another shadow followed not too soon after that, and all five ANBUs tightened their holds on their weapons when they realised that it's a girl, a kunoichi, judging by her clothing, but she wasn't wearing any hitai-ate that identified her from any village.

The girl doesn't seem to be older than seventeen or eighteen, but judging from her chakra level, Sakumo could tell that this girl is at least high jounin level, or maybe even stronger, bordering on kage level at least. She had fiery red hair with golden highlights, reminding Sakumo of his best friend's girlfriend, with sky blue eyes. The girl is wearing a black battle sleeveless kimono with golden edgings to it, with a black fishnet shirt worn beneath it, with a black short-shorts like attire, and bandages tied around the ends of her shorts. A pair of golden armbands with black edgings to it was tied around the biceps on both her arms, with a dark blue sleeveless outer garment draped over her clothing. A black ninjato in a black and gold sheathe with a red tassel hanging from it could be seen hanging from a gray cloth sash on her back, with a white slim headband tied around her forehead, the ends trailing behind her. A pair of black fingerless gloves and black ninja sandals finished her look off, and she also wore a black hooded coat left opened over it.

The girl raised an eyebrow upon seeing the ANBU team. "Well now, looks like Shiri's telling the truth after all," she stated. "What are Leaf-nins doing all the way out here?"

**

* * *

**

Looking back on it later, Hatake Sakumo still doesn't know why he had told the girl about his mission, but he could sense no malice from her, and if she truly is an enemy, she would have attacked them already. The rest of her team still had reservations about her though, and Sakumo could understand that.

"I see," said the girl with a sigh after listening to what Sakumo had to say. She glanced at her wolf before turning back towards the Konoha ninjas. "I'll give you a hand. The guys from Iwa, Kumo and Suna, as well as this war have been giving us some serious problems as well."

"Serious problems?" echoed one of the ANBUs in Sakumo's team. "Which village are you from? And no offence, but what can you do?"

"Sorry, I'm afraid that my affiliation must be kept secret," said the girl. "And don't underestimate me. Despite how I look, I have been a ninja far longer than any of you combined. Our interests just happened to be the same path. I'll give you a hand on the condition that you tell no one of my involvement here tonight."

"Acceptable," said Sakumo with a nod, not that he thinks that she can do anything anyway. "What's your name at least?"

The redhead turned towards him partially as she stood up, a small smile crossing her features.

"…Sayo."

**

* * *

**

Taro whistled, impressed, as he shielded his eyes partially from the bright orange glow of the fire, as the rest of his team stared on with shock.

"Damn… That girl sure is skilled. I didn't think that she can do something like this." Taro muttered.

Sakumo said nothing as he watched the Iwa warehouse and the shinobi outpost go up in flames as the cries from the Iwa-nins reached their ears as they tried to put the fires out, but to no avail.

Having seen that silver wolf, Shiri, from earlier, Sakumo had guessed at once that that Sayo must be a summoner of the wolves, though he hadn't seen silver wolves before, and had taken an interest in Shiri. But what Sakumo didn't expect on top of that is that Sayo is a seals' mistress as well, as seals are pretty difficult to interpret and learn. He should know that, seeing as how his best friend is a master in seals as well, and so is his best friend's sensei.

Sayo had basically just written out several complicated looking seals on blank scrolls that Sakumo had never seen before in his life before summoning another three wolves – one smoky grey wolf, one midnight black wolf and another tan wolf, before giving each wolf the scroll that she had used to write her seals on. All three wolves, along with Shiri, have 'melted' into the shadows just then, and less than ten minutes later, Sayo had merely formed a handseal, and the shinobi outpost and the warehouse have then gone boom.

Sakumo was silent as he watched the raging fires, his mind running furiously. _'I know that I've heard of some legendary wolf contract before,' _he thought. _'The Night Wolves or something, if I recall correctly. Jiraiya said something about his first sensei being the first and only summoner of that legendary contract. What is her name again—?'_

"Sakumo-san."

Sakumo gave a start as the bushes rustled behind him, and his entire team turned as one only to see that Sayo girl approaching them, not seeming the least bit tired.

"Thanks for the help," said Sakumo with a bow. "If it wasn't because of you, we might have failed this mission, or one of my team might have even gotten themselves killed."

"Don't be," said Sayo, waving a hand about. "It's something that someone asked me to do anyway. I wasn't kidding when I said that this war had been giving us some problems as well. A word of caution though: tell your Hokage to investigate all your village's spies and informants thoroughly. There is a mole in your midst who had been passing on information about the village to Iwa."

Sakumo's blood turned cold. So that explains just how Iwa knew so much about them!

"W-Who is it?"

Sayo shrugged. "I have no idea," she said. She then turned to leave. "I have to go now. I trust that you can see yourselves back to your village?" Sakumo nodded. "Then I'll leave now. But before I go, this is a parting gift."

Sakumo gave a start when he caught the scroll that was thrown to him, only to recognise it as a special summoning scroll. Jiraiya had one of those with him once when he was teaching Kushina how to summon toads. Those special summoning scrolls are only carried by the main summoners of the summon contract – the ones who hold the main summoning contract. Those special summoning scrolls allows an individual to summon the summon creature who is responsible for testing any potential summoners, and if the potential summoner passes their test, their name would then be added to the main summoning scroll.

"T-This is…"

"One of the special summoning scrolls of my wolf contract," said Sayo. "You don't have a contract yet, do you? I like you. That's why I'm allowing you to have a chance to sign the contract. But it's really up to you if Taiyou or Santen would allow you to sign the contract, and if they would even accept you as their summoner. You have to prove that you're worthy enough to summon them, and let me warn you first; they're pretty picky about who they let summon them. They only accepted me because of the way that I've managed to get to their world. But if you fail their test, then you'll probably get the summoning contact of one of their cousins instead – ordinary wolf summons, but also still pretty powerful in their own right." Sayo then turned her back on them, ready to leave, but she stopped in her tracks again. "Oh right." She then turned her head over her shoulder. "One more thing." Sakumo stared at her, clutching the scroll in his hand like it is his lifeline. "When you see Jiraiya, tell him one thing." Sayo smirked slightly. "Tell him that Sayo-sensei sends her regards."

* * *

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_**Will of Fire and Wind (Naruto)**_

_AU FemNaru. After the Kyuubi attack, the Kazekage of Sunagakure arrived at Konoha in order to bring back his niece with him back to his village rather than allow her to remain in Konoha. Watch how the holder of the elemental spirits' contract changes the world. Gaara/FemNaru_

_**Silence, the Loudest Sound (Prince of Tennis)**_

_All of Rikkaidai Fuzoku, the boys' tennis team especially were excited when they heard that the famous Princess of Tennis would be coming to their school and joining the boys' tennis team after having disappeared from the professional tennis scene for six months. But what Rikkaidai and everyone didn't know is that the Princess of Tennis can't speak. FemRyo_

_**The Ice Princess of Rikkaidai: Life in America (Prince of Tennis)**_

_Prequel of TIPoR. Ever wondered what Echizen Rika's life in America is like prior to Rikkaidai? Join the crazy adventures of the St. Andrew's tennis team, and learn just why the team loves their vice-captain so much._

_**A New Name, A Different Life (Harry Potter)**_

_AU FemHarry. Hilda Potter is the much forgotten twin of the famous Boy-Who-Lived. When Remus Lupin and Sirius Black overheard a conversation between the Potter parents and Dumbledore to place Hilda with the Dursleys, they then took it upon themselves to take Hilda away to Lily's distant cousin, Natori Shuuichi, who then decided to raise Hilda as Natori Hikari, his younger sister. HP/Natsume Yuujinchou crossover. Hikari/Tanuma_

_**My Little Angel (07-Ghost)**_

_FemTeito. Verloren's angel was slain by the 7 Ghosts when the daughter of the King of Heaven wanted the angel out of the way. Mad with grief, Verloren slain Eve, and both master and angel were then banished to Earth for eternal reincarnation until the end of time. Now 1000 years later, both master and angel met each other again…in the Barsburg Military Academy._

_**Heiress of the Master of Spirits: Nura Rhiya (Nurarihyon no Mago)**_

_What if Nurarihyon had a__granddaughter__instead of a grandson, and what if his granddaughter is a half-youkai instead of a quarter youkai? Watch Nura Rhiya as she venture on her own goal to become the Third Heir, and to attain the title of the Supreme Commander. Zen/FemRikuo_


	14. Back to the Past

Please note here that I have no idea when the Nidaime had actually died, so I'm just going by my imagination here. Anyway, thanks to Dumti for his/her ideas for this chapter!

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Possible lemon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Back to the Past**

_Konohagakure no sato (Future)  
__Fire Country_

Three heads were currently huddled around a series of seals drawn in ink on the ground of some cavern in Fire Country, with a large number of lit candles around them, casting several shadows on the walls of the cavern.

"Are you _certain _that this will work, Shikamaru?" Haruno Sakura asked for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that night, as the only brunette among the three was busy checking and re-checking the numerous complicated-looking seals drawn with ink on the ground.

Nara Shikamaru almost groaned, being huddled on his hands and knees at some seal, with a brush in one hand, and a notebook in the other. The lazy genius finally looked up from his work, and half-glared at the pink haired kunoichi whilst Hyuuga Neji tried to hide an amused grin behind Sakura.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered before giving a half-glare, half exasperated look at his old friend's teammate. "Like what I've been saying for the past three months or so ever since we've first started setting this up, I'm only going by Sayo's sealing notes for this! And might I remind you that she is currently Konoha's only living seal expert after Jiraiya-sama had passed away, having attained her seal mastery at the tender age of 15? I studied seals under Jiraiya-sama alongside her, and I know her skill level in sealing. I'm not as skilled as her, but I'm still competent enough to perform forbidden seals. And time travel seals have a level of risk attached to it, so I'm not sure if it will work or not. And no, I have no idea just how far back that it will take us as well, assuming that the seal _will _work." Shikamaru interrupted, seeing Sakura about to open her mouth.

"Well, it _is _Sayo's notes," said Neji after a long silence. "So there is a high chance that it might work. But the question here is whether it will allow us to find Sayo in the first place."

"We _have _to," said Sakura with insistence, her bottom lip trembling with emotion. "I…can't lose her too. I've already lost Sasuke. I can't lose my last remaining teammate as well. We have to find her."

"Naturally, I want to find Sayo too, Sakura," said Neji patiently. "But once we've found her, then what? You heard what Tsunade-sama had said all those months ago when Sayo had collapsed the entire council meeting room on the heads of Danzo and those two elders. She has some unknown doujutsu. Then the photo that you'd found. She might be different from the Sayo that you knew once we've found her."

"We'll worry about it once we find her," said Sakura with insistence, and before Neji can say anything to that, a shout from Shikamaru caught their attention.

"Okay! We're all set here," said the usual lazy genius, tucking the brush behind his ear and scanning his eyes over the notebook in his hand that contained all of Sayo's sealing notes. "I did triple checking for every single seal drawn here, and I've already tried my best to follow accordingly to Sayo's sealing notes. So I guess that we're all set here." Shikamaru didn't sound too confident of himself for a moment, and Neji feared for his life for a second.

He knew, like how the other two with him knew, that seals can be extremely tricky and dangerous if not done correctly. If a seal is drawn wrong, it can turn the user inside out – that is how dangerous it can be. That is the reason why most ninjas never learnt anything about seals beyond the standard item sealing that all ninjas above chuunin rank learnt.

That is why there are so few seal masters in the world. Jiraiya of the Sannin is one of the most renowned, and after his death, he had passed all his teachings down to his sole remaining student, and Namikaze Sayo soon became Konoha's only living expert after her teacher's death.

"Well, let's take a gamble here then," said Sakura with a sigh, having heard that unconfident tinge in Shikamaru's voice as well. "Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Alright, get into the middle of that large sealing circle," he commanded, pointing to the largest seal circle in the middle of the cavern which is shaped like that of a six pointed star with several seal writings and kanji words written on it.

Sakura and Neji did so before watching Shikamaru get into the sealing circle as well before the lazy genius placed the notebook in between his lips, and he then formed a series of unfamiliar hand seals slowly – almost like he wasn't used to it, before Shikamaru then brought both of his hands together with a loud clap.

"Forbidden Art: Time Transportation." Shikamaru managed to mumble through the notebook currently in his mouth.

With a bright flash of light, the three then disappeared from the cavern.

**XXXXXX**

_Ichiraku Ramen  
__Konohagakure no sato_

Hatake Sakumo slurped his bowl of ramen up slowly in the Ichiraku stand, ignoring the fact that the ramen stand owner and his girlfriend were both trying to catch a glimpse of his face, but failed.

He and his team have just returned to the village an hour ago, and he had also submitted his mission report to the Hokage, though he had omitted the fact that that Sayo girl had assisted his team with their mission. The White Fang then glanced at the scroll in his pocket.

During one of the breaks that he and his team had taken on their way back to the village, Sakumo had attempted the summoning scroll that Sayo had given him. And Sakumo had then realized that she most _definitely _wasn't kidding when she said that her summon wolves were kind of picky over who gets to summon them. To make a long story short, Sakumo didn't manage to make it through their test, but the wolf that had tested him – Tsuki or something – had kindly given him the wolf contract of one of their cousins – ordinary wolf summons, but also relatively powerful in their own right.

"Sakumo!" A loud and boisterous voice rang in his ears just then, and Sakumo glanced up only to see Jiraiya of the Sannin sitting down in the seat next to him, ordering a cup of tea from the ramen stand owner. "Glad to see that you're alright."

"Jiraiya." Sakumo nodded to Jiraiya, surprised to see the spymaster in the village on that day, as with the Third Great Shinobi War well underway, Jiraiya was often out of the village to collect information and intelligence on their enemies for the village.

"I've heard from Orochimaru and Danzo about your mission." Jiraiya explained as a cup of tea was placed in front of him, and Sakumo nodded. "Orochimaru told me that Sarutobi-sensei was burning incense to the gods, thanking them that he had listened to Danzo's insistence to have a medic-nin go along with your squad, or we'll be seeing your entire squad back in body bags. Though I think that Orochi is exaggerating as always."

Sakumo's lips twitched into a smile. He knew that Orochimaru and Jiraiya were best friends ever since they were in the Academy as small children, and have been genin teammates even after that. The two shared a healthy rivalry, and had a brother-like relationship similar to what he and Namikaze Minato had shared, even though the young man is five years Sakumo's junior.

"That reminds me. Jiraiya." Sakumo turned towards Jiraiya who is blowing gently onto the contents of his tea to cool it down. "Do you know anyone by the name of 'Sayo'?"

Jiraiya turned towards Sakumo with a raised brow. "Excuse me?" he questioned, confused, before lifting the cup to his lips.

"It wasn't in the report that I've submitted to Hokage-sama, but my squad ran into some problems during our mission. We received some unexpected help from some girl, but in exchange for her help, we are not to let Hokage-sama or the village know about her." Sakumo explained, and Jiraiya nodded, still with a quirked brow. "Before this Sayo left, she said something. She said, and I quote, 'when you see Jiraiya, tell him one thing. Tell him that Sayo-sensei sends her regards', end quote."

Jiraiya choked on his tea the moment that Sakumo had said 'Sayo-sensei', and he coughed and hacked at his chest, trying to make his tea go down the right way. Finally, the Sannin turned towards Sakumo with wide fish-like eyes, shock and disbelief written in them. _"Sayo-sensei?" _Jiraiya almost demanded, and this took Sakumo aback.

"Uh… Yeah?" Sakumo said uneasily. "What's wrong?"

Jiraiya didn't answer for several moments, still with disbelief written all over his face. Finally, the Toad Sannin found his voice. "Did this Sayo have red hair? Did she have eyes the colour of the sky? Is she a seal mistress? Does she summon wolves? And are those wolves _silver_ wolves?" Jiraiya almost stumbled over his own words; he was speaking so fast that his words came out rather like a torrent.

"Uh… Yeah?"

Jiraiya's eyes went wider as Sakumo said that. "It can't be…" he muttered. "Sensei…"

"Do you know her, Jiraiya?" asked Sakumo in confusion. "Who is she?"

"If it is the same Sayo that I knew, Sakumo, then you should know of her too," said Jiraiya solemnly. "The legendary kunoichi who had evolved seal teaching to what it was today, and the founder of the ANBU corps in Konoha as well as the developer of the current ninja training system that nearly every village in the world uses today, and also the developer of the security system of Konoha that no shinobi has been able to penetrate even today." Jiraiya smiled a grim smile at Sakumo's gob-smacked expression. "The legendary kunoichi, Uchiha Sayo!"

Before Sakumo can say anything to that, some ANBU appeared behind them just then, and the two shinobis turned to face the ANBU messenger.

"My apologies. But we have a disturbance in the Senju Forest towards the southern side of Konoha. As Nidaime-sama isn't available currently, and Sandaime Hokage-sama is in a meeting with the war council, Hokage-sama had asked for Jiraiya-sama and Hatake-sempai to investigate the cause."

Jiraiya frowned before nodding. "Understood."

**XXXXXX**

_Tsukigakure no sato  
__Moon Country_

The wind blew strongly through the village of Tsukigakure, with several loose leaves flying about.

Uchiha Sayo who had just returned from the Earth Country to the Moon Country via her version of transportation (portal travelling), looked at the village from the rooftop of the house of the Tsukikage which is the building with the highest roof, second only to the Tsukikage Tower.

When they have first started building the village, Madara had insisted that he doesn't need a tower, and that he is alright with working from his own house, but the people wouldn't listen to a single thing that he had said, and as such, majority wins. And as such, the Tsukikage Tower was constructed, being located in one of the central points of the village.

Outposts were placed at each entrance of the village to look out for enemies, though they don't really need it, as no one can get to Tsukigakure unless they're one of their shinobis, or unless it is on the night of the new moon that is the only day that their village can be seen in Moon Country.

Sayo tightened her arms around herself, though whether it is due to the cold winds or the chill that she is feeling, she has no idea. The redhead looked towards the direction of Fire Country, and she narrowed her eyes. Neither she nor Madara have heard or came into contact with Konoha ever since their departure about thirty years ago, and her mission to Earth Country earlier to get a further insight into the situation revolving around the current war is the first time in about three decades when she had word of Konoha again.

And it brings back bad memories for her, especially on the night when Senju Hashirama had violated her.

It had already been thirty years or so, but Sayo still can't bring herself to forget it. And to make matters worse, she had photographic memory which explains how she can remember every single seal that she had ever seen or studied, and could draw them from memory alone without referring to her notes. And speaking about Konoha, Sayo wondered for a moment how Haru, Danzo, Orochimaru, Jiraiya as well as Tobirama are getting on, and if they are well.

Sayo shivered as a sudden cold wind blew past her, and she then turned to head back inside the warm interior of her house. Madara wasn't back yet, probably still hard at work in the Tsukikage Tower. One thing of difference in Tsukigakure is that the Tsukikage only handles the important stuff. The smaller decisions were made by the Moon Council that consists of the shinobi clan heads, the head doctor of the hospital, the Academy head teacher, the commander of MOON (the equivalent of ANBU in Konoha) that is Sayo herself, the head merchant of the village and the commander of the oinin (hunter-nin) division in MOON.

The MOON commander, the Oinin commander, the head jounin, and the trainer for new MOON recruits also did a routine check on all members of the council every four months. Usually, the head tactician of the village would be included in the list as well, but Sayo is handling both the positions of head tactician as well as MOON commander. The routine check is to prevent corruption from taking root in the village. Not that Sayo believe that it will happen, but you never know.

Sayo sighed as she headed towards the kitchen to brew a cup of hot tea for herself to warm herself up. The fresh aroma of the lavender scented tea reached her nostrils as she took a sip of the tea, walking towards the window of the kitchen to look at the garden, admiring the full moon in the sky.

There is always a full moon every night in the sky in Moon Country that gives them their name, apart for the new moon night that is the only day that their village could be seen and located in Moon Country. Sayo then sighed to herself when she thought of Seina who is currently lying comatose in the hospital after the village was completed, with no one knowing just when she would wake up as well, and Madara already had the best medics of the village working on it.

One thing that Sayo liked about the village is that unlike Konoha, Tsukigakure does not worship bloodline wielders like they are gods, and neither do they discriminate against those who are different. Everyone in the village knew about their 'immortality' situation, but no one cared, as to them, Madara and Sayo have been the ones to give them a second chance at life.

Sayo nearly jumped, and she almost dropped her cup of tea when she felt a pair of arms encircle around her waist from behind. She then turned only to relax when she realized that it's Madara. Had she really been engrossed in her thoughts that long?

"Hey," said Sayo with a smile, placing her cup onto the nearby kitchen counter next to where she is standing without stepping out of Madara's embrace. "You're late today."

"My apologies." Madara apologized, a slight smirk tugging at the ends of his lips. "We have some intelligence about the ongoing war between Konoha, Iwa, Suna and Kumo. I was in meetings all day with the council today."

Unlike most kages, Madara don't wear the kage robes. Instead, he wore the usual jounin uniform, only with a black cape with silver flame patterns adorning the ends of it, with the kanji words for 'Tsukikage' written on the back.

The cape had been something that Sayo had made for Madara herself when the village was first established as a present of some sort, and the man had loved that present so much that he was never seen going out without it on at all. Fortunately for him, Sayo had placed a seal on the cape to ensure that it would never get worn-out, and neither would the colour fade even with years of use.

"I ran into some Leaf-nins today." Sayo muttered, resting her forehead against Madara's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. "It sure brings back some bad memories. I hate this."

"Me too." Madara uttered in her ear, licking at her earlobe. "But we still have to wait until we can come out into the open. We still have to wait."

"Yeah." Sayo whispered, still resting her forehead against Madara's chest.

Madara then tilted her chin upwards so that she is looking straight into his eyes, and Sayo's eyes widened a slight faction when Madara pressed his lips against hers, pushing her backwards so that her back hit the wall, wrapping one powerful arm around her waist, with the other tangled in her hair.

"You're sure passionate today." Sayo gasped as Madara plunged his tongue into her mouth and began kissing her passionately and forcefully, exploring the cavern of her mouth with his tongue, tugging her head backwards slightly to allow him to have more access to her throat.

"My apologies." Madara whispered against her lips as his kisses increased in intensity, attacking her throat next, sucking on the tender skin. "I need some stress release. Everything has been so hectic lately."

Sayo could have sighed when she heard the words 'stress release'.

Life for a ninja is pretty stressful, and most of them need stress relief. One of the most common routines for stress reliever is sex. Lots and lots of sex. That is probably the reason why most kunoichis became mothers so young these days, when back during the time of the shinobi clan wars, the youngest kunoichi to ever get pregnant was eighteen.

"Well, aren't you impatient today?" Sayo whispered with a smirk tugging at the ends of her lips as her arms trailed up Madara's body, and around his neck.

"You know you want it too." Madara smirked against her throat as one hand reached down and began tugging at the belt that held together the kimono that Sayo was wearing. They both then pulled apart before staring at each other for several moments before Madara led Sayo to their bedroom, and the door closed shut behind them.

**XXXXXX**

_Senju Forest  
__Fire Country_

"Itai!" Sakura almost groaned, holding onto her head that made her feel like her head is about to be split open. "Did the seal work?"

"Seems to be," said Neji with a slight groan, looking around him. He then frowned to himself. _'Strange… This is the forest around Konoha if I'm not wrong, but it seems a little different.'_

"Heads up, guys," said Shikamaru suddenly. He then sighed. "We're about to have company."

"Huh?"

The next moment, both Sakura and Neji soon saw what he had meant when nearly three full squads of ANBU surrounded them, all with ferocious looking weapons in their hands. Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome," he whined. "Fine, we understand already." He complained, raising both his hands so that the ANBUs could see that they're free of weapons, and Sakura and Neji followed suit. "We'll come with you peacefully."

It didn't seem to take the three too long before they're being marched into the village by the ANBU squads, with everyone watching with curiosity. Shikamaru who is the most observant of the three took in everything that he could see, even the heads on the Hokage monument, and he could have groaned when he saw only three heads on it instead of the usual five, realizing what is going on now.

"I know where we are now." Shikamaru whispered to Sakura and Neji. "I…kind of messed up the seal, I think. We're twenty years in the past."

**XXXXXX**

_Interrogation and Torture Department  
__Konohagakure no sato_

"Strange 'visitors'?" Senju Tobirama frowned as the current head of the T&I department escorted him through the hallways. "Couldn't you have handled it on your own? I handed over the mantle completely when I've decided to make Hizuren the Hokage."

That is true, in a way.

After Hashirama's demise at Madara's hands, Tobirama had became the Nidaime Hokage, and the first thing that he did as Hokage is to declare that anyone else who even tried laying a hand on any Uchiha will be thrown into jail for at least ten years. Unlike Hashirama who much preferred using the 'soft methods' to handle things, Tobirama believes more in the harsher methods, another reason why Shimura Danzo and Orochimaru, two of Sayo's students, have so much respect for him, with another reason being that Sayo had told them both once that if anything ever happens to either of them, they can trust Tobirama. Uchiha Haruki, Sayo and Madara's nephew, had said the same thing as well.

Then about a decade ago during the Second Great Ninja War, give or take a few years, Tobirama had gone on a mission personally with Sarutobi Hizuren, Shimura Danzo, an Akimichi, and another unknown ninja. Complications had aroused, and Tobirama would have died when he had decided to play bait had it not been for the fact that Sayo had taught him a few seals that he had used on that fateful day to save his life. He had then handed over the mantle of Hokage to Hizuren whilst he became an advisor of sorts to his old student.

"My apologies, Tobirama-sama." Yamanaka Terue, the current Yamanaka clan head, and also the head of ANBU T&I apologized. "But our guards detected a disturbance in the Senju Forest, and they found those three there who came without so much as a fight. I would have asked Hokage-sama to come, but he's currently in a meeting with the war council. Thus, I have to call you in instead."

Tobirama sighed. "Fine. I understand the circumstances," he muttered. "I'll handle this. Be on your way."

"Yes sir," said Yamanaka Terue as they stopped in front of a metallic door with the plaque 'Interrogation Room Four' written on it. "I'll leave you to it." He then bowed and left.

Senju Tobirama sighed, and was about to open the door when an angry voice reached his ears through the door.

"What do you mean by 'you've messed up the seal, and now, we can't return', Shikamaru?" said a shrill angry female voice.

Tobirama raised an eyebrow in interest. _'Shikamaru?' _he thought.

"Exactly what it sounds like, Sakura," grumbled a male voice. "And I did say that I'm not certain if the seal can work, didn't I? And it isn't a complete failure. We did end up going back, didn't we?"

"Yes, to _twenty years in the past! _Right in the middle of the _Third Great Shinobi War!" _said Sakura shrilly, and Tobirama raised a curious eyebrow. He knew that seals can do almost anything, even travelling back in time, as Sayo had told him once, only that those seals are classified under 'forbidden', as it carries a high risk level to the user. "Didn't you say that you'll send us back six years?"

"But more importantly, how do we get ourselves out of the mess that we are in?" Another male voice asked. "And is Sayo even here in the first place?"

'_Sayo?' _Tobirama thought.

He then chose to enter the room at this moment, and the three occupants in the room turned towards him immediately. Because they have surrendered peacefully, the ANBU have merely stripped them of their weapons and left them in this room without tying them up. Even Konoha has regulations when it comes to prisoners.

"Good evening," said Tobirama with a smile on his face, closing the door behind him.

"N-Nidaime-sama?" The pink haired girl uttered weakly, and Tobirama raised an eyebrow.

"While I would like to ask who you three are, I heard some parts of your conversation earlier," he said. "Is this 'Sayo' that you've mentioned…Uchiha Sayo?"

The eyes of all three lit up. "Do you know her?" asked the girl excitedly.

Tobirama raised an eyebrow. "I'll ask the questions here," he said briskly. "For starters, who are you, and how did you get here? I heard something about time travel earlier. Is that true?"

The three teens shifted on their feet uneasily, and Tobirama sighed. "Your names?" he asked.

"Haruno Sakura." Sakura muttered.

"Nara Shikamaru."

"Hyuuga Neji."

"As you probably already knew, I'm Senju Tobirama," said Tobirama. "You can just call me Tobirama or something. I don't like formalities all that much, and I'm no longer the Hokage anyway." The three teens nodded. "I've heard about time travel seals from a friend of mine." He explained. "She's a seal mistress, and the very first one in the shinobi world, one who had evolved sealing studies to what it was today. She told me once that time travel seals are one of her more focused seal studies back then, and no matter what method you use, when you travel through time, you have to give up something in exchange. Most of the time, it is your own identity of whoever you used to be in your original timeline. The same soul can't exist twice in the same plane after all. If the person who had attempted the time travel seal do not do that, they will then cease to exist."

Shikamaru nodded. "Sayo said the same thing once," he mumbled, and Tobirama frowned.

"Yeah, I've heard you mention that name before," he said, and all three teens looked up. "There is only one Sayo that I knew of. I'm not sure if it is the same person you are talking about, but—"

"Is this her?" Sakura interrupted, pulling out a semi-crumpled photograph from within her pocket, and showing it to Tobirama who took it with a raised brow.

The photograph was slightly crumpled, and there were seven people in that photo that seems to be taken outside the Hokage Tower. Three were of the three teens currently in front of him. One seems to be his grandniece who is currently in the hospital tending to her fiancée after a medic-nin had kept Namikaze Dan's body in stasis in a special sealing scroll, transporting him back to Konoha in order for medic-nins to work their magic.

That had been another contribution by Sayo, and why Tobirama had insisted that the Academy learn about her despite her later status as one of Konoha's first 'traitors'. For obvious reasons, he can't possibly tell the public about the reason which led to Madara and Sayo leaving Konoha. Uchiha Haruki, Sayo and Madara's nephew, had actually cornered him a week after their departure, and he had no choice but to tell him everything that he knew, and boy! That was the first time that he had ever seen Uchiha Haruki so pissed off! The Uchiha clan head had then proved to be just as ruthless and hardened as his uncle, maybe even more, that not even the Hyuuga clan dared to piss the young clan head off.

Though Tobirama thinks that Danzo and Orochimaru might have known the reason to their teacher's departure, as he had heard from Tsunade that the two have nearly broken down the doors of the Uchiha clan compound after Sayo's departure, and nearly ten Uchihas landed in the hospital before Uchiha Haruki had stopped his clansmen, and had invited the two into his house.

The two have changed after that, both seemingly having a great grudge against Konoha, particularly Danzo, and even Orochimaru seemed to be silently angry at just about everything after that. They only ever spoke to Haruki, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and a few others after that, with him in the list. Though no one can deny that the two were excellent strategists, especially Orochimaru who had only been five at that time, both having learnt what they could from their teacher, the legendary tactician who had brought Konoha victory after victory during the wars.

The silver haired man in the photo seems almost like a grown-up version of Hatake Sakumo's seven-year-old son, Hatake Kakashi. And the last man in the picture was wearing a faceplate with dark brown hair, probably only a little younger than Kakashi in the picture.

And the last person in the photo was of a face that Tobirama remembered, and his breath was nearly caught in his throat. _'Sayo…'_

"I see," said Tobirama as he handed the photo back to Sakura. "So she's a time traveler too."

"We came to find her," said Neji, exchanging looks with his friends. "Some things happened back home, and we wanted to listen to what Sayo have to say, and also to find her. She's…our friend, after all. The only one that had given us hope. That's why…"

"How do you know Sayo, Tobirama-sama?" asked Sakura curiously.

Tobirama sighed. "She's one of my best friends," he explained. "We fought together during the time of the shinobi clan wars, and she is also one of the founders of the village. Apparently, she has a case of amnesia as well. But some things happened about thirty years back, and she…left, alongside Madara-san, her husband."

All three teens blinked. "HUSBAND?"

"Yeah," said Tobirama with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I would normally not tell anyone things like that, but since you are her friends, I see no harm in telling you, but this information does not leaves this room." All three teens nodded. "The reason why Madara-san and Sayo left thirty years ago was because…" Tobirama struggled with his words. "…my brother…violated Sayo."

The eyes of all three teens widened in horror and shock.

Tobirama sighed. "If you really want to know more about Sayo, then I'll suggest that you talk to Shimura Danzo, the head of the ANBU Roots, an organization that both Sayo and Madara-san had founded, alongside the normal ANBU corps. He is her student, after all. I would have asked you to talk to Uchiha Haruki, their nephew, but he's dead. He died in the Second Great Ninja War. You can talk to Haru-kun's son to see if he knows anything though. I'll arrange with Hizuren to have you three enlisted as Konoha ninjas, but we need different names for Neji-kun and Shikamaru-kun, for obvious reasons. Sakura-san is alright, as I hadn't heard of a Haruno clan in Konoha."

Sakura nodded.

Her family had only moved to Konoha right after the Kyuubi attack, and even then, they were a clan of merchants; civilians. She is the first ninja in their family, and that is why her parents have been so hesitant in the beginning to allow her to be a ninja, especially after Pein's attack had almost decimated the entire village.

"Shikamaru, I'll change your hair," said Sakura, standing up, and Tobirama handed her a kunai silently. "You still look too much like a Nara, that even if you say you aren't one, no one will believe you."

Shikamaru grumbled before loosening his hair out of his ponytail. "If you make me look like an idiot, I'll shave you bald, Sakura," he warned as Sakura began cutting his hair, as brunette locks began falling to the ground.

"Don't worry," said Sakura cheerfully as she began to work on his hair. Ten minutes later, she was done, and Sakura stepped back to admire her handiwork. "There! All done!"

Neji whistled in low appreciation as he eyed Shikamaru. "Damn! Sakura, you could be a hairstylist if you ever decide to quit being a ninja," he commented. Sakura had turned Shikamaru's hair in a type of Mohawk hairstyle which kind of suits Shikamaru.

"Sorry, I like being a medic-nin," said Sakura with a grin, returning the kunai to Tobirama.

"Names?" Tobirama coughed in amusement, watching Shikamaru finger his hair with some displeasure on his face.

Neji thought for a moment before answering. "Hibiki Neji," he said.

"Kaiga Shikamaru." Shikamaru grunted. "It was the alias that I'd used during an infiltration mission that I did in the past." He answered the unasked question.

"Hanesawa Sakura." Sakura answered. "It won't complicate matters afterwards once my clan comes to Konoha." She explained.

"Very well," said Tobirama with a nod. "I'll get some of the jounins to test your skill level later. As for Neji-kun, take this." He held out a black blindfold that he'd taken from his pocket, and Neji blinked. "Your eyes are obviously of the Byakugan, and you need to hide them somehow. You can still see with this blindfold on, as it had a seal on it to allow the user to do so. Sayo gave this to me a long time ago when I've injured my eyes on a mission, and I can't allow light to enter my eyes for a certain time."

Neji nodded before tying the blindfold around his eyes only to realize that Tobirama was speaking the truth. It was like he never had a blindfold around his eyes at all.

"Well then, welcome to Konoha, you three."

**XXXXXX**

_Training Ground Seven  
__Konohagakure no sato_

Shimura Danzo said nothing as he laid down a bouquet of white lilies before the memorial stone, his eyes tracing the name 'Uchiha Haruki' engraved somewhere on it. He then sighed, looking up at the skies. _'Sensei…where are you?' _he thought.

"Shimura-sempai."

A voice interrupted his thoughts, and Danzo turned around only to see Orochimaru, dressed in white from head to toe rather like the Hyuugas as always, approaching him with a solemn look on his face, and carrying a bouquet of white lilies in his arms.

Danzo sighed. "You're here again, Orochimaru?" he stated more than questioned.

After Sayo's departure, it had been Uchiha Haruki who had taken Sayo's place to watch over the both of them, along with Jiraiya, acting like a sort of mentor to the three of them, as Haru had then been older by Danzo by at least seven years. And after his passing, Danzo had then taken his place to watch over the two younger ninjas, as he could also be considered their sibling disciple.

Orochimaru managed a small smile. "Hai," he said as he laid down the bouquet of lilies at the memorial stone and said a small prayer beneath his breath. "Seems like Jiraiya has been here before either of us." He noted, spying the sake cup lying at the foot of the memorial stone. "Haru-san, I've taken on an apprentice today. Her name is Mitarashi Anko. She's the dunce of the Academy class that she was in, and quite the troublemaker herself, but I see something in her. The teachers tried convincing me to take on some of the better students because of my status as one of the Sannin, but I refused." He smiled. "After all, it is much more interesting to teach a dunce than a supposed genius, isn't it? The same way that Sayo-sensei had taught us."

Danzo smiled before looking up into the skies, staring at the stars. He remembered how his teacher had loved looking at the stars. _'Sensei…where are you?'_

**XXXXXX**

_Uchiha Clan Compound  
__Konohagakure no sato_

"This is my father's diary," said Uchiha Hisao, the current Uchiha clan head, and also Uchiha Haruki's son, handing the leather bound book to Sakura. "It might help you. When I was younger, my father always used to talk about his aunt and uncle a lot, and that they were his surrogate parents, as his own parents have passed away when he was a mere toddler. They both helped raised him, and he loves them like his own parents." He then smiled. "I remember them both a little, as I was very young when they have both disappeared."

"What do you know about them?" asked Neji.

"Only as much as everyone in the village does, I'm afraid." Hisao admitted. "But unlike in the village, they are very much respected and loved in the Uchiha clan. Sayo-sama is the legendary kunoichi with a reputation that even precedes that of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages. She is the first seal mistress in the shinobi world, and had helped advanced seal studies to what it was today. Everything that Jiraiya-sama and Minato-san knew about seals, it is from Sayo-sama, as Jiraiya-sama learnt what he could about seals from her. Tobirama-sama actually gave Jiraiya-sama a book on seals that Sayo-sama had left behind with him. She is also the founder of the ANBU corps, and is also responsible for what the village is today. She is also the developer of the security system that Konoha uses which no shinobi had been able to penetrate even today, and also the developer of the current ninja training system that nearly every ninja village in the world uses now."

"She is really that great?" Sakura muttered.

"Yeah," said Hisao with a nod. "That's why the Uchiha clan had such great respect for her and Madara-sama. But unfortunately…" He sighed. "We can't say the same for the village. I can't even count how many times that my clansmen had gotten into fights with other ninjas, particularly those from the _Hyuuga—" _He almost spat the name out. "—just because those shits for brains have the gall to insult them. They didn't even stop to think that Konoha won't be at where they are today if it wasn't because for Sayo-sama and Madara-sama!"

Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru exchanged looks.

**

* * *

**

"I believe that Sayo is still alive," said Sakura an hour later as they walked through Konoha's streets, all three sensing an ANBU squad trailing them from the rooftops, and thus, were careful to not raise their voices.

"Yeah, I think so too," said Shikamaru with a nod. "Do you remember what Sayo had said once about Uchiha Madara? That he is an immortal because of his Eternal Mangekyou? If that is so, then I believe that Sayo probably had the same thing too."

Neji nodded. "I think so too."

"Hey!" A voice caused all three to turn only to see a brunette woman around the age of eighteen or so approaching them, wearing the standard jounin uniform. Three young men followed her. "Are you the ninjas that Tobirama-sama had mentioned?" All three nodded dumbly. The woman then smiled. "Good. We're supposed to test your rank. Follow me. I'm Sasaki. Sasaki Yoshino. Nice to meet you."

**

* * *

**

"Damn! You guys are sure strong!" Yamanaka Inoichi was complaining an hour later as he nursed his bruised cheek in Ichiraku Ramen, with his male teammates nursing an injury of some sort as well. "Tobirama-sama sure wasn't kidding when he said that you guys are strong. Remind me not to underestimate a blind person as well."

Neji smirked at that when he heard it.

"Oh, don't be such a baby, Inoichi!" Yoshino scolded as she pulled on Shikaku's bandages a little tighter than necessary, causing him some unnecessary pain. "Oh! Sorry, Shikaku!" She then closed the first-aid box beside her with a light clap. "Retsu will dump you if she heard what a wimp you are." She joked, and Inoichi blushed.

"Oh, come on! Everyone knew that she has the hots for you, and vice-versa!" Akimichi Chouza laughed.

"But you're sure strong though," said Yoshino, turning towards Shikamaru. "Your name isn't just for show. You really seemed to have a natural affinity with the shadows, not like that of the Nara clan."

"Uh… Thanks?" Shikamaru offered hesitantly. Was she trying to flirt with him?

"Hey." Shikamaru looked up. Yoshino was staring at him with stars for eyes, and he almost cringed. "Are you free this Saturday?"

Shikamaru almost groaned.

This just _has _to be someone's idea of a JOKE! Behind Shikamaru, Sakura and Neji were both trying to stifle their laughter, and failing miserably. Nara Shikaku, Shikamaru's would-be father was glaring daggers at him, trying to drive a hole through his head with sheer willpower alone.

Shikamaru sighed, eyeing his mother who had stars for eyes. Talk about troublesome. How could things have ended up with his MOTHER falling for him of all things?

* * *

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_**Ruler of Hueco Mundo (Naruto)**_

_It isn't something that is widely known, but only among the inhabitants of Hueco Mundo, the Hollows. Hueco Mundo had a ruler. Three of them, in fact. And when Aizen Sousuke's plans for Hueco Mundo and the world reach their ears, they are not pleased. Be careful, Aizen. You've just pissed off the three strongest Hollows in all of Hueco Mundo. FemNaru_


	15. Confrontation with the Leaf!

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Confrontation with the Leaf!**

_Two Years Later  
__Konohagakure no sato_

Two years after the start of the Third Great Shinobi War had the war taking a turn for the worst for the village of Konoha. Having had little choice but just to polish on his skills on seals, Namikaze Minato, one of the best jounins in the Leaf village pored over his sensei's sealing notes that he had gotten from _his _sensei, the very first seals mistress in the shinobi world.

And it also helps that there are very brief notes stated in there about the workings and fundamentals on her trademark jutsus – Hiraishin and Hirameki, both speed jutsus that allowed her to appear here and there in the blink of an eye, and jutsus that had the entire shinobi world baffled to this day, not knowing just how she had even created it.

And Namikaze Minato, is if nothing, a smart man. Just from the barest details written in there, he was able to come up with an imitation of those moves, though when Jiraiya had seen it, he commented that it wasn't even half as fast as his sensei's, though Minato's version is good enough to deal with the Iwa-nins.

Shikamaru, Sakura and Neji as well, were put to the frontal combat lines, though Sakura assisted Tsunade with the injured more, something that the blonde woman is thankful for. Senju Tobirama, quite probably currently the _oldest _shinobi in the entire continent had been assisting with the war strategies with Nara Shikaku, with Shikamaru directing the troops out on the frontlines.

Tsunade and Sakura have gotten along well as well, as both women were rather similar in character, and Sakura was pleased to see a much more cheerful version of her teacher, as both her brother and fiancé, and now husband, were still alive.

Tsunade had explained to Sakura once during one of the rare breaks that the two head medics of Konoha's shinobi forces had during the war that one of the sealing methods that the renowned seals mistress, Uchiha Sayo had left behind, had taught shinobis the method to seal a severely injured person into a scroll, and to place them in stasis so that medics would have all the time in the world to prepare for surgery and treatment, and to save their lives.

That method is what had saved both of Tsunade's loved ones, and she is thankful to the renowned seals mistress, and like Tobirama, had tried repaying that gratitude by assisting the Uchiha clan with any means possible.

**XXXXXX**

_Camp Northlake  
__Kusagakure no sato_

Kusagakure no sato had originally been one of Iwa's allies in the war, but after one of the major campaigns that Konoha had launched, with Orochimaru of the Sannin becoming the commander of that campaign, Kusa had fallen into Konoha's hands, and had thus, tilted the war slightly into their favour.

And that is where Shikamaru and Sakura were now, walking with Tsunade towards the make-shift 'jail cell' which is really just a tree or something with the prisoners shackled and chained to the tree with their backs against it, with chakra shackles on their hands and feet.

"Huh? Prisoners?" Sakura echoed with a furrowed brow.

Since when do they take prisoners in alive?

Shikamaru was confused too, judging by the look on his face.

"Well, they weren't wearing any hitai-ates to identity the village that they're from, and no matter how much the interrogators have questioned them, they refused to tell what village they're from, but they're believed to be enemy spies." Tsunade explained. "Can you both give it a go?"

"Alright, I guess?" Shikamaru muttered, exchanging looks with Sakura who shrugged.

The 'jail-cell' was actually near the heart of camp so that several pairs of eyes will be watching the prisoners if they ever tried to escape. Not that they _can _do it, because of the chakra shacklers bound around their hands and feet, cutting off their access to their chakra.

Jiraiya of the Sannin and Namikaze Minato were both standing in front of the 'tree jail-cell', 'interrogating' the prisoners, though a shouting match is more like it, as Sakura, Tsunade and Shikamaru could hear that shouting match all the way from the other end of the camp where the medic tents were at.

The other Leaf-nins who were all resting up after a rather large-scale operation held earlier that afternoon were all looking on with much amusement, as is Minato, as his teacher is the one doing the 'interrogating'.

"For the last time, we are not from Iwa, Suna or Kumo, or any other village that you are thinking, you fucking lecher!" The nin tied up in the middle shouted at Jiraiya, with the three captured nins seemingly quite young, all around the age of fifteen or so, yet Sakura could tell that their chakra stores were easily at low to mid jounin level.

"Then _what _village are you from then?" Jiraiya asked with much frustration.

Even the notable spymaster can't tell what village that they're from. Their mannerisms and choice of clothing don't seem to be from Iwa, where majority of their nins wore as little as possible. They don't seem to be from Kumo as well, and neither do they look like they were from Suna.

The three young ninjas wore a kind of style that seems to be that of a T-shirt beneath a short sleeved combat jacket buttoned up or a sleeveless vest left opened with cargo pants for the boys and shorts for the kunoichi, with fishnet stockings on her legs with the standard black ninja sandals for all three of them.

None of them wore a hitai-ate, which can only amount to a few reasons: one, they are spies from an enemy country, or they were scouts from an unknown village, and the last is that they are ninjas that aren't affiliated with any village.

"Like _hell _I will tell you!" The kunoichi of the group finally blew her top, glaring daggers and knives at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya and Minato sighed before turning back towards Shikamaru, Tsunade and Sakura. "It's no good, Tsunade," said Jiraiya with a sigh. "They're not speaking at all. This is getting us nowhere…"

Tsunade frowned. "Where's Orochimaru or even Inoichi?" she asked, missing the narrowing of eyes from the three nins tied to the tree at the mention of those names, but Sakura and Shikamaru did not miss those looks. "Maybe they can do something? Perhaps Inoichi can perform a mind walk or something?"

Minato shook his head at that immediately, disagreeing with Tsunade. "It's too dangerous," he said. "There are some ninjas who have a fail-safe built into their minds, that if anyone ever tried to intrude into their minds, it'll backfire on them."

Jiraiya frowned. "Then what—"

"Argh!"

"Ergh!"

"What happened?" asked Minato, bewildered, spinning around, staring at the Leaf camp as the two squads of sentries collapsed to the ground, unmoving. "An enemy attack?" He readied a Hiraishin kunai. "Where?"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, scanning his eyes over the midst of chaos that is the camp. "There!"

Everyone in the camp stared with wide eyes as an unknown person covered from head-to-toe in a black cloak appeared in a flash of silver light, and Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. He knows that jutsu…

"Who are you?" Sakura demanded.

A couple of Leaf-nins rushed at the unknown assailant who merely stepped to one side and placed out a hand where the silver bracelets on the wrist glowed with a silver light, and the tell-tale signs of a seal appeared on the backs of those Leaf-nins, and they collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Shikamaru's eyes widened a slight fraction. He knows what that is. _'A seals user?' _he thought in shock, exchanging looks with Sakura before turning his attention back towards the unknown assailant. _'And that level of skill… A seal master? This isn't good.'_

One of the jounins formed several handseals for a jutsu just then before inhaling and exhaling. "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!"

One of the three tied-up nins struggled with his bonds before shouting with concern and horror, "Sayo-sama!"

Sakura's eyes widened. _'Sayo?'_

The fire jutsu was then seemingly sucked up by a vortex of some sort, and the Leaf-nins then saw that the cloak was burned, and discarded to the ground, revealing a redhead kunoichi who don't look older than eighteen or nineteen with sky-blue eyes. She was wearing a midnight blue battle kimono-like outfit with a black fishnet shirt beneath, and black pants that reaches to her thighs, with a grey cloth holster held together with a gold medallion hanging on her back, with a sword hanging from it. A pair of silver bracelets adorned her wrists, which Shikamaru recognised as sealing bracelets immediately, with a hitai-ate tied around her neck. Yet with the shadows casting on her, no one can see the symbol on the hitai-ate.

No one at the camp recognised her. No one but only three people.

Shikamaru. Sakura. And Jiraiya.

Shikamaru and Sakura breathed in sharply, and exchanged quick looks with each other before turning back towards Sayo, their eyes wide. Jiraiya caught this quick exchange and realised that they knew who Sayo was, and narrowed his eyes. He made a mental note to speak to them both later.

'_Sensei…' _Jiraiya thought, his eyes wide, staring at Sayo. _'You… You're still alive? W-What is going on here? She doesn't look a day over eighteen! Just like how she looks like nearly sixty years ago!'_

"W-Who the hell are you?" Some Leaf-nin demanded.

Sayo said nothing before she took a step forwards, and the next moment, she stopped in her tracks as the figure of Namikaze Minato appeared behind her, a kunai poised at her throat. Sayo turned her head slightly to look at Minato out of the corner of her eye.

"Not bad," she said simply. "So you must be the Yellow Flash of Konoha? Your reputation precedes you."

"Cut the crap." Namikaze Minato ordered, his normally warm blue eyes now cold and hardened. "Who are you, and what is your purpose here? If I don't like your answer, I'll kill you right here."

Sayo closed her eyes and smirked, before opening them again. "Don't make me laugh," she said simply. "You can't kill me. You are so naïve that it's almost laughable. But…" Minato's eyes widened in horror and shock, along with everyone else, when one moment, the girl is being held hostage by Minato, and the next, she is standing behind Konoha's best enemy repellent, a kunai held to his neck. "…not good enough." She stated, holding the kunai closer to Minato's jugular vein, and the blonde gulped.

"Minato!" Uzumaki Kushina shouted to him with horror all over her face, standing next to a silver haired child whom Sayo recognised as the student of the Yellow Flash and the son of the White Fang, Hatake Kakashi, also the _youngest _person in Konoha to ever attain a chuunin rank at the age of six. "Let him go!"

Minato gulped, not daring to move, as just one wrong move, and the girl can slice his neck opened easily. _'W-When did she…?'_

"Do you think that I wouldn't notice the kunai on the ground when those Leaf-nins rushed me just now?" Sayo questioned with a raised brow. "But I must say that that move of yours isn't bad for a copy of the famed Hiraishin. I know everything about that move, including how to defend against it and the blind spots. The true Hirameki and Hiraishin…once performed…won't even allow anyone to see the user coming until it's too late. _That's _the purpose of the Hiraishin and Hirameki."

"W-What are you here for?" Minato hissed.

Sayo 'hmmed' before taking one step back from Minato, and the blonde narrowed his eyes as he turned around. "I'm not here to pick a fight," she said simply. "Though trust me, I would like nothing more than to wipe your village off the map." All Leaf-nins narrowed their eyes and readied kunais and weapons. "Put down your weapons. I'm not here to pick a fight. I'm just here to retrieve those three over there."

She pointed towards the tree where the three tied up nins were shackled to the tree. Sayo then formed a single ram seal before there was the sound of a loud crack, and when Jiraiya and Tsunade turned around, their eyes widened when they saw the chakra shackles around the wrists and feet of those three nins cracking before giving way and falling into pieces on the ground. The chains binding them to the tree fell apart as well.

"W-What the hell?" Kushina muttered, her eyes wide.

"Sayo-sama…" The kunoichi of the trio stood up with her two comrades, nursing her wrists.

"I'll listen to your report later on in the village," said Sayo simply, turning towards them. "For now though…" She placed out a hand, and a black portal opened up just next to the trio. "Get through that and return to the village. Head straight to the hospital to get yourselves checked up before giving your reports."

"Hai."

The one kunoichi and two shinobis then walked through the portal before the portal closed up behind them. Sayo then turned and fixed the Leaf-nins with a cold look. "Before you idiots go about capturing foreign ninjas, get straight the identity of the village that they're affiliated with," she said, jerking one thumb at her hitai-ate where the symbol of a crescent moon was visible to all as the clouds covering the moon in the sky moved away.

Minato, and all Leaf-nins paled considerably at that. "A-A Tsuki-nin?" Minato nearly whispered.

"Tsuki has no intention to interfere in this foolish war, and we plan on staying neutral in this war," said Sayo simply. "But we _will _retaliate when you touch our ninjas. The next time that you hold one of our ninjas prisoner again or something of that magnitude, don't blame me for being merciless."

Sayo then glanced over the Sannins' group, her eyes resting on Shikamaru and Sakura briefly before looking away. A black portal then opened up beneath her feet, and then, she was gone.

Sakura's eyes were wide, as was Shikamaru. She is no genius like Shikamaru, but she knew enough from their brief encounter to know that Sayo do not recognise her, almost like this is the first time that she is seeing her.

What is going on here?

**XXXXXX**

_Tsukigakure no sato  
__Tsuki no kuni_

A bright pillar of light shone down onto the ground as Sayo formed an unfamiliar handseal, and she then entered the pillar of light. Less than three seconds later, she soon found herself standing at the 'arrival port' of the village where everyone appears there when entering the village. Not even her portal travelling abilities can traverse the seal placed on the village.

It was actually Madara's idea to have this way of allowing people into the village, so that they can keep track of those who have entered their village. Only those whose chakra signatures were keyed into the guard system of the village would be able to enter the village. The missions that the village usually took were requested by people who went to one of the shinobi outposts in Tsuki no kuni to put in a request. Those shinobi outposts were there to maintain the security of the country, and were also used for the civilians to put in a mission request to the village.

Tsukigakure no sato is probably the village out there with the highest form of security in all six elemental countries. Madara had suggested the idea of security to Sayo. She merely put it into action, though the actual creation of the village actually took some work on both their parts.

"Sayo-sama." One of the two ninjas on sentry duty that night bowed to her as she came out through the 'pillar of light'. "Welcome back. Shin and the others are at the hospital. They'll be giving their reports to Madara-sama once the medics give them the all clear."

Sayo nodded, not trusting it in herself to speak.

Seeing all the numerous Leaf-nins gave her some bad memories, and add the fact that that blonde Leaf-nin had practically stood so close to her, and had actually came into skin contact with her earlier…

It brought up some unwanted memories that she would rather leave buried.

"Sayo-sama?" The kunoichi on sentry duty spoke with concern, seeing Sayo's pale face. There always were two ninjas on sentry duty at each outpost of the village, including the 'entry point' – a kunoichi and a shinobi, with one of them a medic-nin. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm alright, Ayako," said Sayo with a weak smile. "If you see Madara, tell him that I'm going home."

"A-Alright," said Ayako with a nod, exchanging concerned looks with her teammate. "Do you want me to fetch Madara-sama—"

"No. Don't bother," said Sayo. "Good work as always." She then walked off quickly before either one of the two could stop her, making a beeline straight to the Uchiha mansion, entering her house before closing the door behind her, keeping it closed with her weight.

She says 'mansion', but it is really just a modest-looking two-storey house with a beautiful garden and a backyard out at the back, with a high wall surrounding the back where a koi pond and beautiful sakura trees were in the backyard.

It is a simple house, but both Madara and Sayo loved the place, even much better than the Uchiha district back in Konoha. Madara had actually also planted a weeping sakura tree in the backyard for Sayo where it had easily towered over the other trees in the backyard, as Sayo always loved to sit in the weeping sakura tree in the Uchiha clan enclave back during the time of the shinobi clan wars.

Sayo breathed heavily, one hand fisted in the material of her kimono. Several bad memories were rising to the surface of her mind with that brief encounter with those Leaf-nins, especially when that blonde man had gotten behind her like that. Memories of that night several years ago when Hashirama had…violated her.

_Do you think that he'll want you now, broken and touched by another man?_

Sayo screwed her eyes tight, trying to block out those images before she snapped her eyes opened again, and headed straight up the stairs to the master bedroom and straight into the bathroom. She then snapped on the lights of the bathroom before closing the door behind her and immediately got into the bathtub that Madara had built for a joke when building their house with the construction of the village, saying that they can share a bath together with the bathtub almost as large as a small-sized swimming pool.

Sayo then turned on the showerhead, letting the powerful blast of the water blast down on her, not caring that she's still fully clothed, and slowly getting drenched, turning on the water as hot as she could bear, falling to her knees in the tub, staring at her reflection in the water puddles of the bathtub.

She closed her eyes, trying to block out her memories of that night, shivering slightly as she wrapped her arms around her mid-section as she did so.

"_Let me go!" Sayo cried out as she struggled with her bonds, but was slammed back onto the bed by Hashirama, an insane look in his eyes, along with a wicked smirk on his face as he hovered above her, being half-naked himself. "Hashirama, please! Let me go!"_

"_Now, why would I do that?" Hashirama smirked cruelly, bending over Sayo as he licked her neck, his hands moving down to the fishnet shirt that she was wearing after he had ripped off her battle kimono earlier, discarding it to the ground._

_Sayo felt a cold feeling settling down into the pits of her stomach, and she cursed herself for taking that deserted path __**alone **__when she had sensed Hashirama following her after she had taken Orochimaru home._

"_Madara is right about you from the start!" Sayo spat at Hashirama, panic and fear rising up within her. "You're nothing but a beast! I pity Mito-hime for having married a failure of a man such as you! Madara is worth a hundred of you!"_

_A hard glint appeared in Hashirama's eyes at that. "A failure of a man, huh?" he mused, a dark glint in his eyes. "How about I show you just how much of a man I can be, hmm?"_

"_Stop this!"_

"_Shhh…" Hashirama whispered, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "You'll thank me for this later."_

"_Like hell I would!" Sayo spat in his face. "You might have my body, but you'll never have my heart! Not even when you're doing whatever vile acts that you're planning right now!"_

_Hashirama's gaze hardened. "Well then, should we put it to the test then?" he said cruelly before smashing his lips against hers, and Sayo struggled against him. _

_But Hashirama is a man after all, and much stronger and heavier than her, and he easily overpowered her even if she wasn't weakened by the drug that Hashirama had given her to mess up her chakra system. Sayo wiggled beneath him, trying to get out of his hold when she felt his hand slipping beneath her shirt and moving up her body slowly, slipping within the fabric of her bra and squeezing her left breast._

_Hashirama broke the forced kiss and removed his hand from within Sayo's shirt, smirking at her enraged and frightened expression. "I'm going to make you mine, as you should have been right from the start," he stated._

_Sayo struggled with her bonds, despite knowing that it is futile, as there was the sound of tearing fabric as Hashirama tore off her shirt, discarding it to the ground before removing her pants, then followed by her bra and panties. He then removed his own clothing, revealing his ten-inch member._

"_Hashirama, please! Let me go!"_

_Hashirama ignored Sayo's pleas, but proceeded to her breasts, licking her nipples, and sucking on them before moving down her body and flicking his tongue out as he reached her sex. By the time he moved back up her body, Sayo was crying._

_She hated his touches, and the horrible deeds that he is doing to her body, but she was powerless to stop him._

"_Stop this!"_

_Without warning, Hashirama then thrust deep forcefully into Sayo, causing her to give out a loud pained scream, and tears leaked from the sides of her eyes as she screwed her eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see Hashirama doing what he is doing to her body. Actually feeling it is more than enough for her._

"_If you struggle more, it will only hurt more." Hashirama whispered into Sayo's ear, licking her earlobe as he did so._

_He thrust back into Sayo once more, grinding deeper into her as he did so, and he can't help feeling excited about this. He is here, making love with the woman that he wanted as his own for all these years. As he looked down at the naked body beneath his, his lips can't help stretching into a satisfied smile. _

_She is beautiful._

_Almost as beautiful as he had always imagined her to be whenever he engaged in bed activities with his wife in name only._

"_Fuck you!" Sayo cried out, still trying desperately to get free._

"_If you want me to fuck you so bad, you could have just said so," said Hashirama with a smirk as he started to move faster and harder, doing her harder._

"_Fuck you, you son of a bitch!" Sayo cursed as she clenched her teeth tightly from the intrusion._

_Finally, after what seemed like hours, Hashirama finally got off of Sayo, releasing his Mokuton techniques that bind her to the bed. He then threw her tattered clothes to the redhead who tried to cover up as best as she could, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes as she glared at him, fear and terror visible in her eyes, keeping her kimono closed around her body with one hand._

_Hashirama smirked as he dressed himself slowly, taking his own sweet time. The strong smell of semen and sex still lingered in the air, and he took in the smells of it with light pleasure. "Do you think that he'll want you now, broken and touched by another man?" he taunted Sayo, and the redhead glared back at him._

"_Fuck you," she hissed._

_Hashirama's smirk widened, in the midst of pulling on the outer garment of his red kimono. "If you want me to fuck you so bad again, then I'll gladly do it," he said, making a mock movement of removing his clothes again._

"_Don't come near me!" Sayo shouted, scrambling as far away from him as possible. "Just leave! I don't want to see you!"_

_Hashirama raised an amused brow. "Oh? You're mine now. How can I __**not **__see you or vice-versa?"_

"_Just get the fuck out!" Sayo screamed. She then burst into a fresh wave of tears. "You fucker… How dare you do that to me? I hate you!" She glared at him through tear-filled eyes. "I curse you! I hope that Madara kills you in the worse way possible!"_

Sayo nearly jumped when a pair of arms encircled around her waist from behind, still with the water from the showerhead blasting down on her, and Madara rested his chin on her shoulder, holding her in a tight embrace, not caring that he is getting drenched as well.

"Madara…"

Madara smiled a small smile at her, but concern was visible in his eyes. "Ayako told me that you seemed awfully distressed when you've returned," he answered the unasked question. "Shin and the other two gave their reports as well about half-an-hour ago. What's wrong?"

Sayo shook her head vigorously, shaking slightly.

"It's not 'nothing', Sayo," said Madara with concern. "What is wrong?"

Sayo was silent, but Hashirama's words from so long ago kept haunting her.

_Do you think that he'll want you now, broken and touched by another man?_

"Madara." Sayo said in a small voice, and her voice came out shaky. Madara raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what had rattled his beloved wife so. "Back then, when Hashirama…you know…"

Madara's eyes narrowed his eyes in silent fury at the memory of what he had found in the Senju cabin at the forest all those years ago. To others, it might have happened nearly forty or fifty years ago, but to him and Sayo who have time stopped for them because of their immortality, it still feels like yesterday.

Sayo tore herself away from Madara's embrace, and turned around to face him, a half-scared look in her eyes, one hand gripped in the fabric of her kimono. "Will…will you still want me after that? After Hashirama had…" She turned her face away, and her voice trailed off.

Madara's eyes widened at that. Is that what Sayo is worried about? Why now though? It had been nearly sixty years since then. The Uchiha head then narrowed his eyes when he remembered what Shin had told him: that the Yellow Flash guy had held Sayo hostage for a few moments, literally coming in close skin contact with her.

Is that what had triggered it?

The Yellow Flash is a Leaf-nin after all. A man. And a member of the Namikaze clan, a distant relation of the Senju clan.

"Sayo, do you trust me?" Madara asked gently before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. Sayo's eyes widened at that before she relaxed into his embrace, and as Madara's fingers went to the edges of her kimono, she held his hand, and broke the kiss.

"Could you leave for now?" Sayo asked softly. "I'll be out in a moment."

"Alright," said Madara with a nod. "You'll be fine on your own?"

Sayo nodded.

**

* * *

**

Half an hour later, Sayo was out of the bathroom, having changed into a fresh set of a midnight blue kimono that Madara had laid out for her at the entrance of the bathroom. The redhead was brushing her hair out with a comb as she entered the master bedroom when she saw Madara sitting on their bed, staring at a silver bracelet in his hand.

"Madara?"

Madara looked up as she entered, and he smiled, gesturing for Sayo to sit beside him which she did. He then wrapped one arm around her shoulders as he showed Sayo the bracelet in his hand that Sayo recognised as the sealing bracelet that she had came up with a few weeks ago.

The seals in the bracelet were specially designed that whichever person who was wearing the bracelet would just press a seal in the bracelet, and it would instantly teleport them straight to a room in the hospital of Tsukigakure. Naturally, the person must have their chakra signature keyed into the village's guard system before the bracelet can do that. The room in the hospital was set up with all kinds of seals, directly connected to the bracelets. In other words, the room is like the tree, and the bracelets like the leaves of it.

Sayo had made that bracelet with the war in mind, so that if any of their ninjas were unfortunately caught up in the crossfire of the war, nothing short of an instant fatal blow would kill them if they could just teleport themselves back to the village.

Madara seemed very excited by that idea, as is the council, but they were also concerned that if anyone got their hands on the bracelet, rival villages could easily figure out where their village is, as well as the workings of the bracelet.

Thus, Sayo had to also come up with a fail-safe for it: if a person wearing the bracelet dies, the seals in the bracelet would die as well. As such, the chakra of the person wearing it must be keyed in the bracelet too. Also, a severe penalty would be awarded to any person in Tsuki misusing this bracelet, as it is only for life and death purposes.

"This is…"

"The Moon council had approved it," said Madara with a smile. "We would be making more of this from tomorrow onwards. So that means that you have some hard work ahead of you soon."

Sayo smiled at him as Madara placed the bracelet onto the bedside table, and turned towards her. "Now, what's this that I'm hearing from you about you thinking that I won't want you anymore after Hashirama had…forced himself on you?" Sayo said nothing, and Madara sighed. "Is it about the encounter with the Leaf-nins?" The flinch from Sayo told him that he had hit the nail on the head. Madara then sighed and placed both hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Sayo, do you trust me?"

"Of course."

Madara then crashed his lips against Sayo's without warning, kissing her passionately, pushing her onto the bed, and straddling her body. Both their right hands then clasped together as he continued kissing her, licking at Sayo's bottom lip, demanding for entrance that she obliged to, and he then explored the cavern of her mouth with his tongue, taking in her taste.

Madara then released his hold on Sayo's hand and started to remove her clothes and his own. In a matter of moments, they were soon both completely naked, kissing each other heatedly as they roamed their hands over each other's bodies eagerly.

Sayo moaned as Madara moved slowly down her body before reaching her breasts, licking and sucking on her nipples whilst fondling and caressing her breasts roughly. Her body was lightly heating up from the heat of passion as Madara moved further down her body, kissing and licking gently as he did so before reaching her inner thighs, and spreading her legs apart lightly, giving him a nice view of her lightly soaked pussy.

"I'll never tire of this." Madara grunted as he moved up Sayo's body, trailing his fingers from her abdomen to her breasts, letting his fingers trail across her breasts teasingly, and he was rewarded by a moan from the woman beneath him.

Madara then started to slowly push into her. Slowly at first, because no matter how many times they have made love to each other, Sayo had always hated the pain that came from them starting out too fast.

"Sayo?" Sayo looked at Madara with half glazed over eyes, her cheeks flushed in the heat of passion, with her body lightly heating up. "No matter what happens, I'll never abandon you. I'll always love you."

Sayo smiled at him before she groaned as Madara pushed further into her, yet not entering her yet. "Y-Yeah," she moaned. "Kami… This feels so…" She was cut off when a groan escaped from her when Madara pushed and pulled into her.

Madara smirked as he pushed in and out of her teasingly, never going fully into her. He continued at this pace for several moments before he felt Sayo's arms trailing up around his neck and reaching to his upper back, and he looked back down at the body beneath him. Sayo's eyes were half-opened and glazed over, and her cheeks were flushed in the passion of the moment.

"Madara…" Sayo murmured, and her voice sounded almost like an angel's voice to Madara. "Please…"

Madara smirked as he felt Sayo pushing her hips into him, arousing him more, and he then obliged to her request. Without any warning whatsoever, Madara thrust himself hard into her, with Sayo letting out a light scream of pain and pleasure, her nails digging into Madara's back. He then pulled out of her only to thrust back into her again, with the redhead wiggling about beneath him from the pain that came whenever they made love to each other.

Eventually, the pain that Sayo was feeling lessened to a dull ache, and she was soon aware of being completely filled as he went inside her. Madara then pulled out of her, and before she could protest, he then roughly thrust back into her again, giving out a loud moan as he did so.

"Oh kami…" Sayo gritted her teeth from the intrusion into her as Madara started to quicken his pace. He pulled out of her again before slamming back into her harshly and without warning, causing her to give out a startled scream of pleasure. He then started to quicken his pace with Sayo moving with him unconsciously. "This is…" She moaned at the sensation wrought. "Harder! Faster!"

Madara obliged with Sayo's request, and started to thrust into her faster, grinding deeper into her as he did so. He soon felt a tightening in his abdomen, telling him that he was fast reaching his climax.

Sayo screamed again as Madara sped up his pace, brushing against a spot inside her that left her feeling extremely lightheaded and breathless, itching for more as she did so.

"Oh kami…!" Sayo groaned, arching her back. "This feels so good…" Madara smirked, doing her harder and faster. "More! Madara, more!"

Madara obliged by doing her faster and harder, causing Sayo to scream in delight as he brushed against that spot again. He then groaned as her walls clammed down around his member, nearly losing whatever control that he had. "Kami…" Madara groaned. "Sayo, you're torturing me like this…"

"This is…!" Sayo moaned loudly, feeling the pressure building up more within her. "Madara…! Almost…"

Madara grunted as he understood what Sayo wanted, and quickened his pace, thrusting in and out of her harder and deeper than before, both of them almost reaching their climax. But he wanted even more, and as such, he thrust in even deeper into Sayo, causing the pressure to build up even more for both of them.

"Kami…!" Sayo moaned, clutching at Madara's shoulders. "This is…!"

Madara grunted as the walls clammed down around him, milking him for what it's worth, as he spilled his semen into Sayo at the same moment when both of them reached their climax.

"Kami…" Sayo muttered tiredly, falling back onto the bed on her back, covering her eyes with one hand. "That felt so good."

Madara smirked before getting atop Sayo again, and capturing her lips in a passionate kiss before drawing back from her, hovering above Sayo. "Satisfied?" he questioned, and Sayo giggled.

"Very," she said, and Madara was pleased to see that the doubt and fear in her eyes from earlier was long gone.

"I do hope that I'm better than _him _in bed at least." Madara grunted as he sucked on the tender skin of Sayo's neck.

Sayo giggled. "Definitely," she agreed.

Madara then looked straight into her eyes, with his hands supporting him as he hovered above Sayo, and he smirked at her. "Ready for round two?"

A knock on the front door just then answered that question, and Madara growled low in his breath. Sayo giggled. "Looks like we have to continue this another day," she commented.

Madara grunted before getting off of Sayo, and pulling on a pair of black pants. "I'll be right back," he said before walking down the stairs, hearing the knock on the door getting louder, and he then opened the door, an annoyed look on his face. "What is it this time?" He demanded.

It was a shinobi and a kunoichi who were standing at the door, and the kunoichi blushed as she stared at Madara's naked chest, and averted her eyes elsewhere, whilst the shinobi, a jounin, coughed into his hand. "Sir, please put on some clothes," he requested politely.

"Oh, it's you," said Madara nonchalantly, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. "What is it?"

"I'm very sorry for having disrupted your…activity with Sayo-sama, Madara-sama, but we have intelligence from Kano," said the shinobi seriously, and Madara frowned. Kano is the village's spymaster, and one of the best in the village, probably even better than Jiraiya because of his ability to travel in the shadows. "Hanzo the Salamander is moving again. The resistance movement against him is in danger because of that."

"I take it that we have to take action then?" Madara questioned with a frown, and the pair of ninjas before him nodded. "Who to send though…?" He pondered.

Hanzo the Salamander _mustn't_ get more power than what he had already, and Madara already had a bone to pick with him, as nearly half of the ninjas in Tsuki were refugees from Ame, and the Uchiha head had heard plenty of stories from them about that man. Even Sayo wasn't pleased with Hanzo, as when she had travelled all over the elemental nations to collect intelligence and spying reports for the village, she had heard loads about Hanzo, and what she had heard, she isn't too happy with it.

"Don't bother, I'll go," said a voice, and Madara jumped slightly as Sayo appeared next to him, thankfully fully dressed, though with dishevelled hair and tired eyes.

The pair of ninjas bowed to her in respect. "Sayo-sama."

"Like I was saying, I'll go," said Sayo, glancing at Madara. "I want to see what the only resistance movement in Ame strong enough to go against Hanzo the Salamander is capable of anyway."

Madara sighed. "Then I'm coming with you," he decided.


	16. To Believe

Before scrolling down to read this chapter, I would _deeply _appreciate it if you guys can read this author's note first of all. First, I would like to thank everyone for your continuous support and reviews for this story, and had stuck with me throughout, despite my occasional long hiatus for updates for this story.

Now, onto the important points that I want to put across. I had been an author on FFnet for three, nearly four years now, and I have my fair shares of flamers and whatnot. Mind you, I don't mind flamers. In fact, I welcome them, as this is just one of the ways for me to learn how to improve on my writing and such.

But for flamers who do not even make sense in their reviews, I sometimes want to ask them 'are you smoking pot?' And if you are going to flame me, at LEAST put in a signed review! An anonymous reviewer for my last chapter that goes by the name of 'WARRIOR of fanfic99', I do want to ask you a question: have you been reading all my author notes, warnings and such from chapter one of this story onwards?

Didn't I _specifically _put in those author notes that this story is 'AU' which means 'alternate universe'? If you don't know what that means, check your dictionary please. 'AU' which means this story _will not be going according to canon! _I _know _damn well that both the Shodaime and the Nidaime _detests _the Uchiha to the point of attacking one on sight!

But for the sake of this story, I need at least _one _major Senju clan member who had been around during the time of the shinobi clan wars who is on relatively good terms with Madara and Sayo. As I've planned for Hashirama to play the 'villain' in this story, I can only use the Nidaime as the 'middleman'!

Also, this story sides more towards the villains of canon – as in, Madara, Itachi, Pein, Orochimaru, Danzo, etc. As such, several of the 'good guys' in this story are going to be portrayed as the 'villains' in this story, or maybe even look like idiots.

And last of all, FFnet is a site for aspiring authors to write whatever they wished to. There are several authors on here whose stories don't even make half sense, but do you see me saying something about them? If you wanted to flame this story, _at least _put something with some sense in it! And no one pointed a gun at your head to read this story, right? If you hate this story so much, then don't read it!

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: To Believe**

_Camp Northlake  
__Kusagakure no sato_

It was nearly three in the morning, and Nara Shikamaru knew that he should really be sleeping along with the rest of the Leaf-nins, as they had a major operation to be launched the next day, where several Leaf-nins would be sent directly to the Iwa borders to take as many of the Iwa-nins out as possible. Shikamaru, along with Sakura, were some of those involved in this operation.

But try as he might, Shikamaru couldn't seem to fall asleep at all, a first for the lazy genius who could usually fall asleep at the drop of a hat. It wasn't because of the stress of war, as this wasn't the first time that he was involved in a war. Back in his original timeline, he was involved in the war against the Akatsuki, a war much more terrifying and horrific than the current Third Great Shinobi War.

No, the thing that is currently keeping him up is because of the fact that one of his best friends had suddenly turned up in front of him less than five hours ago _right in the middle of a Leaf ninja camp, _and had suddenly teleported away before anyone can do anything. Even Namikaze Minato, Konoha's best enemy repellent and their best jounin, was helpless against her.

She…was just there, just barely an arm's length away from him, and Shikamaru can do _nothing _but just gape at her like an idiot!

And then again, if what they've suspected is true, then Sayo might have been around ever since the time of the shinobi clan wars – an era in the elemental nations that had been so terrifying and so horrific, a time where wars and battles were just part of everyday life, and where people could just die at any moment.

Kaiga (Nara) Shikamaru sighed, covering his eyes with his right hand briefly, muttering "troublesome" beneath his breath before reaching into his jounin vest pocket and drawing out a slightly crumpled photograph, staring at it whilst lying down on the hill that he is currently on.

The photograph is a photo taken of him, Sakura, Neji, Sayo, Jiraiya and Tsunade taken outside the Hokage Tower when they were all about fifteen or so – about three months before Jiraiya's death, and on the day when Sayo had attained her seal mastery, and was recognised as a seals master on the same standing as Jiraiya himself.

Shikamaru stared at the image of Sayo silently, tracing her slightly smiling figure with his eyes alone. A face framed with pink hair appeared upside-down in his vision just then, giving him a slight start, and Shikamaru immediately sat up, turning around only to see Sakura with an amused Neji behind him.

"I knew that you'd be here." Sakura stated matter-of-factly, settling down on the hill by his side, with Neji sitting on his other side. "Taro told me that you were gone from the tent when he had headed back in after his turn for night watch had ended, and I knew that you could be found on the highest hill within the safe zone to watch the stars."

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome," he whined. He then turned towards Neji. "When did you get here?"

"About two hours ago." Neji replied. "I came here with Inoichi and Shikaku. We're to be with the First Team as well, set to be sent out first thing tomorrow morning." He then glanced at Sakura before turning back towards Shikamaru. "Sakura told me what happened. The entire camp is buzzing with news of it when I've just come in." He was silent for several moments. "Are you both certain that it's Sayo?"

"W-Well, she _looks _like her alright," said Sakura, exchanging nervous looks with Shikamaru. "But…she doesn't seem to recognise us." She sighed. "I was hoping that Tobirama-sama was joking when he had told us that she had complete amnesia. Looks like he was right. Sayo had already forgotten all about us."

Shikamaru was silent for a long time as he looked at the photo in his hand, not taking his eyes off of Sayo's image. No one had known this back in their original timeline sans for perhaps Ino, Neji, and maybe even Sakura and Tsunade. But he had a major crush on Sayo for a long time that had started when they have first started training under Jiraiya in seals. Then when Jiraiya had died, Sayo had drawn back from everyone else, Iruka and Tsunade included, that she only ever spoke to him, Sakura and Neji. He had been there for her ever since Jiraiya had died, and that is when he had realised his own feelings for one of his best friends ever since their Academy days.

"You know, back in our original timeline, I've heard some things from Sayo," said Shikamaru at last, meeting Sakura and Neji's eyes, and placing the photo back within his jounin vest. "She told me that Uchiha Madara went insane and started delving deep into immortality and resurrection techniques because of his wife. The immortality and resurrection techniques that Orochimaru had…it was first developed by Madara, improved by the Nidaime, and then perfected by Orochimaru."

Neji nearly flinched at the very memory of Orochimaru's Edo Tensei technique, and Sakura frowned. "His wife?" The pink-haired medic echoed in confusion.

"Yeah," said Shikamaru with a nod. "His wife is named Uchiha Sayo." Sakura's eyes widened. "We learnt about her during our time in the Academy, remember? During our first two years when we mostly covered theory and history. She was only mentioned briefly, so I don't really remember it much." He glanced at Sakura. "I assisted Sayo when she was investigating the Uchiha clan, so I knew what she does about the clan. Apparently, Uchiha Sayo committed suicide by slitting her wrists in the bathroom, leaving behind only a note."

Shikamaru looked from Neji to Sakura and back again, before taking in a deep breath, and reciting the contents of the note from his memory alone. "'My mind, body, heart and soul belongs to no other but one. The blood of injustice will be repaid tenfold to the clan of Nature'. No one knows what it had meant, and why she had even killed herself. It wasn't that long after her death when Uchiha Madara had snapped and left the village. The body of his wife went missing after that, and it is said that Uchiha Madara hid her body in a place that only he knew the location of. The battle between him and the Shodaime commenced at the Valley of the End not long after that. A terrifying battle that had made its mark into history, and the Nidaime brought the body of his brother back to the village." Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome. Well, between Sayo and me, we managed to piece together the story from what little clues that we've found out."

Neji frowned. This is the first that he had heard about the history of the Uchiha clan back during the time of the shinobi clan wars until the betrayal of one of the founders of the Leaf village.

"So you're saying that Akatsuki, Pein, and Orochimaru…" he said slowly, trailing off.

Shikamaru nodded. "All part of his plan," he said. "He wants to resurrect his wife." He looked up at the night skies.

Neji and Sakura said nothing but exchanged glances. Sakura was the first one to break the silence. "Shikamaru?" Shikamaru glanced at Sakura out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing. "You and Sayo both went to Madara's lair all by yourselves without taking any backup with you after Sayo had killed Itachi, and had learnt his exact whereabouts from Itachi before he had died. That is before you both, along with Neji, have gone after Pein and the remnants of the Akatsuki in Ame. What happened then?"

Shikamaru's eyes darkened.

**

* * *

**

_Flashback:_

"It's here?" Shikamaru asked, and Sayo nodded, as the two headed deeper into the tunnel that seemed never ending. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they emerged into a large cavern with crystals shimmering on the cavern walls.

In the middle of the cavern, against the back walls, elaborate-looking white flowers adorned the walls, with two ice statues of angelic-looking beings standing by the sides, almost looking like they were guardian angels for something. And in the middle of this flowerbed, a pure white coffin laid in the middle of it, with a body lying in the coffin.

The body was that of a woman, maybe in her late teens to early twenties, with her eyes shut and her hands placed over her chest, the fingers entwined with each other. She was dressed in a manner of clothing regularly worn by the kunochis during the era of the shinobi clan wars. The woman looks almost like a mirror image of Sayo herself, except that she looks older. In fact, she almost looks like she's merely sleeping, instead of being dead.

Shikamaru frowned as he narrowed his eyes, focusing his sight, and he could distinctly see the woman's skin glimmering lightly in the lights of the cavern, almost like there is a thin layer of ice beneath her skin, despite the fact that it is quite warm in here. The Nara heir then recalled what Sayo had told him once when she was reading up on body preservation methods after the toads have retrieved Jiraiya's body from within the waters of Amegakure, and she was trying to find a way to preserve Jiraiya's body to prevent it from decaying.

_All-Ice?_

_Yeah. It is an ancient story that I've heard from Jiraiya during our training trip. In the past, when he was a boy, a village somewhere in the land of Ice was destroyed, with the village along with it, and all the bodies of the dead in there ended up floating in the freezing waters of the land of Ice. The shinobis of the land of Ice went to retrieve those bodies, and because of the temperature of the water, all the bodies were frozen solid. But one of the expedition teams discovered a wooden coffin floating about in the water._

_A coffin?_

_Yeah. According to Jiraiya, he said that the coffin seemed rather well made, made by a master, as no nails were hammered into the coffin at all. Nothing at all. And yet, the coffin was so airtight that it took four ninjas to pry the coffin open with some jutsus and tools. And in there, they discovered a woman's body. A very beautiful woman dressed in clothes that no one had ever seen before. People were starting to say at that time that the woman is probably the Rikudo Sennin's wife, as the village that was wiped out… It was one of the places in the world that is said to be created by the Rikudo Sennin. That is why people are saying that that is why the village was attacked in the first place – as the attackers believed that the Rikudo Sennin's relics and artifacts was hidden in the village._

_What happened after that?_

_The dead bodies that were retrieved were taken to the ninja village of the land of Ice. It wasn't that long after that when all the dead bodies that were retrieved started melting, and the smell was almost unbearable. But there is one body that wouldn't melt, no matter how warm it was. That was the body of the woman believed to be the Rikudo Sennin's wife. And the people there gave her a name – All-Ice, or 'Alice'. _

'_All-Ice'?_

_Yeah. Rumours started surfacing all over the elemental nations regarding Alice after that. And then, the body disappeared about five years later, and the rumours then ceased. 'All-Ice' is what I'm looking into now. Even seals aren't eternal, you see, and I'm looking for something eternal that could preserve Jiraiya's body._

"All-Ice?" Shikamaru muttered. The lazy Nara then noticed the figure of Uchiha Madara standing in front of that flowerbed, staring at the coffin with his back facing them. "Uchiha Madara…"

"So you've came," said Uchiha Madara, turning to face them.

For once, his mask was off, and for the first time, both Sayo and Shikamaru saw the face that they only ever saw in their history books as one of the founders of the village, and also one of the faces of the two statues erected at the Valley of the End.

"Who…is that?" Sayo questioned, narrowing her eyes at her older look-alike in the coffin, readying a kunai in her hand.

Madara turned back towards the coffin, and a smile appeared on his face that even made Shikamaru surprised, as he never thought that Uchiha Madara could look so…human, given all that he had done.

"My love. My life. The reason for my living, and the reason for my existence." Uchiha Madara replied, though neither one of the two Leaf-nins even knew if he is talking to them, or simply talking to himself. "I would do anything just to see her smile at me again, and to be by my side."

"Yes, and that is very romantic of you," said Sayo irritably. "But what has that got to do with us? I know your pattern well enough, Uchiha Madara. You wouldn't let anyone know your whereabouts if this place is as important to you as it seems to be. Why else would you let Itachi know of this place, and for him to tell me where you are?" Sayo narrowed her eyes. "What is your true agenda?"

"Resurrection."

Shikamaru frowned. "Resurrection?" he echoed.

"That's right," said Madara, turning to face the two again. "To resurrect a person successfully so that they might walk among us in the world of the living again, I need the sacrifice of a compatible soul." He turned to smile at his wife. "My wife developed the resurrection technique back during the time of the shinobi clan wars after my brother's death – a kinjutsu, as it requires great amounts of chakra, and a living soul. She never managed to complete it. I tried my best to complete it, but I wasn't an expert with seals like her. Senju Tobirama who had been a friend of my wife's, and had even worked with her ever since the creation of Konoha, took over completing that technique. But he died before he could do it. Later, Orochimaru, her old student, took over the task of completing that technique. But he didn't manage to as well. The true Resurrection technique does not require the talisman to prevent the revived from crumbling to dust. I did what I could from all three of their notes and works, and finally managed to complete that technique. I tested that technique several times before I realised what it needed. To resurrect a person successfully, you need the sacrifice of a compatible soul."

Uchiha Madara turned to face Sayo and Shikamaru, and they both nearly cringed at the insane look in his eyes. "You look _exactly _like my beloved Sayo. And you both even shared the same name," he stated. "If I didn't know any better, I'll think that you are Sayo's reincarnation." Shikamaru stepped in front of Sayo, shielding her from Madara's insane gaze, readying a kunai in front of him. "That is enough for me." An elaborate-looking sword appeared from out of nowhere just then, with Madara clenching it in his right hand. "With your death, Sayo will be by my side once more!"

Both Shikamaru and Sayo leapt apart as Madara swung his sword towards them, narrowly missing them by mere inches. Before Sayo can regain her footing, she saw that Uchiha Madara was in front of her with his sword raised above his head. The Uchiha founder then froze in his tracks, and as Sayo followed his gaze, she saw several black shadows attaching itself from Shikamaru to Madara's body, and wrapping all around the Uchiha founder's body.

Shikamaru panted, his hands locked in the familiar handseal that he always uses whenever executing his shadow techniques. "Just made it in time," he muttered. "Sayo! What are you doing? Get the hell out of the way! My jutsu won't hold him for long!"

"R-Right!" Sayo barely managed to get out of the way as Shikamaru lost his hold on Madara, and the sword crashed down on the place where she had been at several moments earlier.

"Stop it!" Shikamaru shouted as he attempted another shadow binding technique. "Do you seriously think that your wife will be happy at knowing what you had done just so that you can bring her back as a living puppet?"

Madara hissed, and his eyes spun into the blood red colour of the Sharingan. "Don't you dare talk about my wife like that!"

_End Flashback:_

**

* * *

**

"Shikamaru?" Sakura voiced out in concern.

Shikamaru merely shook his head. "It's…nothing," he said. He then glanced up at the stars. _'Now I see… The clues are all there, and I didn't even manage to see it. And they call me a genius.' _He shook his head. _'But if the Uchiha Sayo from our timeline died, then why is the Uchiha Sayo from __**this **__timeline still alive? Why is the timeline changing?'_

**XXXXXX**

Amegakure no sato had one of the tightest securities in all of the elemental nations; second only to Tsukigakure no sato.

The leader of Ame, Hanzo the Salamander, is known across all the elemental nations as a highly suspicious and paranoid man who had always kept guards and bodyguards with him 24/7, and every person entering Ame would get themselves and their backgrounds undergoing a thorough check. Anyone that even looks remotely suspicious was killed instantly. Anyone going against Hanzo was killed as well.

That is just how Hanzo the Salamander does things in Ame where he rules with an iron fist, and just why the entire country, and even several other countries hated Hanzo with a passion. Children of Ame as young as three years old were also taken away from their parents and families by Hanzo, and were later trained as loyal soldiers to his cause. That's part of the reason why Ame is always wrecked by civil war.

But still, security or no security, it didn't take two ninjas of Madara and Sayo's calibre long to infiltrate Ame, especially since the two have been on several infiltration missions in the past back during the time of the shinobi clan wars, and have never been discovered even once.

According to Kano, Tsuki's leading spymaster and informant, the resistance movement against Hanzo had existed for a couple of years now, and their existence was known to everyone in Ame, only that no one knew of their exact location.

"Damn, I feel like I'm living underwater." Madara muttered with distaste two hours later, tugging at the black cloak that he was wearing that covered him from head-to-toe that serves as infiltration purposes. No one in Ame paid him and Sayo a second glance, as nearly _everybody _in Ame dresses that way. "This resistance movement is sure good at hiding themselves though, if even _you _can't find them."

"Well, they're bound to be." Sayo muttered, looking left and right whilst trying to keep the rain out of her eyes, as even the cloak that she is wearing doesn't offer much protection against the ongoing rain that always falls in Rain Country, giving them their name. "If they're strong enough to go up against Hanzo and his forces, and is still around today, then they're bound to be good."

"But where are they?" Madara wondered, looking left and right. "Even Kano doesn't know where they are, and from the rumours going on around town, Hanzo had asked for a meeting with the leaders of the resistance movement. I got a bad feeling about that."

"This is getting us nowhere." Sayo muttered, stopping in her tracks, and causing Madara to stop as well. She then closed her eyes, spreading out her senses like how Seina had taught her all those years ago, searching for chakra signatures of ninjas. There aren't that many ninjas in Ame, mainly because of Hanzo only letting those loyal to him live, and thus, it wasn't that difficult to find the chakra signatures of ninjas in Ame. After several moments, Sayo's eyes snapped opened, and she turned to face Madara with a look of panic on her face. "Five miles west, at three o'clock." She informed him. "We'd better hurry!"

And she then took off with Madara close behind her, their cloaks fluttering after them as they did so.

**

* * *

**

The place where Sayo had led Madara to is somewhere near the outskirts of the Rain village, pretty much barren and plain looking sans for the cliff-like areas with dead-looking trees all over.

Madara immediately cloaked both himself and Sayo within a top level cloaking technique so that they could stay hidden as they watch things roll themselves out before deciding if they should interfere or not.

Two teenagers around the age of fifteen or sixteen were standing on the plains, glaring up at Hanzo and his battalion that consisted of nearly half of the ninja forces that were loyal to him and… Sayo narrowed her eyes as she distinctly saw the Leaf symbol on their hitai-ates. What the hell are Leaf-nins doing here? No village would interfere in the internal political affairs of another village unless they want to risk war.

"They're Root ANBU, Sayo." Madara whispered to Sayo, almost like he had just read Sayo's mind, and the redhead's eyes widened. "What the hell is Danzo thinking?"

Sayo studied the two teenagers standing alone, and recognised them as the leaders of the resistance movement from Kano's descriptions of them. One of them had shocking orange hair that stick out in every direction, and like most Ame citizens, he wore a dark cloak over his garments, covering his body. The other teenager had red hair rather like Sayo's own that reaches to his chin, but it was of a darker shade as compared to Sayo's hair, looking almost like the crimson red of blood.

Sayo then looked up at the cliff where a tall man with long blonde hair, and also wearing a gas mask on his face was standing, which she recognised instantly as Hanzo the Salamander. The man also had a terrified-looking blue haired girl in his grasp.

A kunai was launched by Hanzo that landed directly in front of the two teenagers. "You, the red-haired one. Use that to kill Yahiko. Then I will spare you and the woman."

Sayo can't really see the eyes of the redhead, but she could see that horror and terror was written all over his face, and she could tell that the orange-haired teen, Yahiko, as well as the blue haired girl, were both precious to the boy. Childhood friends, perhaps?

The blue haired girl's face turned even paler at Hanzo's demand, if that was even possible, and her eyes widened in horror. "Don't do it, Nagato!" she screamed to the redhead. "Don't mind me! Both of you escape!"

"Konan…" Nagato, the redhead almost whispered, shaking slightly.

"Nagato." Nagato turned towards Yahiko. The orange-haired teen looked serious, and there was even a look that Sayo recognised in his eyes. The look of a man ready to die. How many times had she seen that look back during the time of the shinobi clan wars? A child that young shouldn't have those eyes. "Kill me."

Madara hissed in anger next to Sayo beneath the cloaking technique, and she nearly winced as Madara's grip on her arm tightened to the point until her blood circulation was nearly cut off.

Yup. Madara is really pissed. Sayo hadn't seen him this mad ever since the day when both of them have left the Leaf village. If by any chance, Hanzo had miraculously managed to walk away alive after this, Madara wouldn't be letting him live to see tomorrow's sunrise.

Nagato stared at Yahiko with a look on his face almost like he couldn't believe what he is hearing, and fear, terror, and horror overtook him almost immediately.

"Nagato!"

"Stop!" Konan screamed in terror, struggling against her bonds, but to no avail.

"Hurry it up," said Hanzo impatiently. "Or do you want this woman to die?"

Nagato took one step forward, and he then stopped in his tracks. Or rather, he was _forced _to stop in his tracks, as a black-cloaked figure stepped in front of him. "Who—" Yahiko started, bewildered, before there was the sound of a loud scream over by Hanzo's side.

The two teenagers then turned their attention back towards Hanzo only to see another black-cloaked figure appearing in front of Hanzo, a bloody kunai in the figure's left hand, with Konan being grabbed around her waist by this unknown person. Hanzo's right hand was also clean severed off, with blood pouring from his severed wrist like a river, his once working useable hand now lying useless on the ground, the blood running deep into the rain-soaked ground.

"W-Who the hell are you?" Hanzo hissed, cradling his severed hand to his chest, splattering blood all over his clothes.

The cloaked person didn't answer, but merely grabbed a bewildered and confused Konan before both disappeared into a black portal just as a rain of kunais and shurikens rained down on the spot where they were at moments prior. A black portal opened up next to Yahiko just then, and the unknown figure then emerged with Konan.

"Konan!" Yahiko cried out with relief, hugging the blue haired girl around the neck as the cloaked person who had rescued the only girl among the Ame trio cut her bonds, thus freeing her hands. "And who are you both?"

"We'll explain later," said Uchiha Madara, grabbing Nagato and literally throwing him into Yahiko and Konan who both barely managed to catch him in time. He glanced at them both. "Young people like you three shouldn't have eyes like that."

"W-What do you—" Nagato was cut off as a dark cloak was thrown over the three of them, and he then blinked and looked up at the person who had rescued Konan only to see that it's a kunoichi with red hair who doesn't seem older than eighteen or nineteen.

Sayo narrowed her eyes as she saw Nagato's eyes up close for the first time, and she recognised that ripple pattern in his eyes immediately. _'The Rinnegan? I thought that it's extinct by now, and that I'm the last one to hold that bloodline,' _she thought. She glanced up at Hanzo before turning back towards Nagato. _'We'll worry about this later.'_

"The three of you stay under that and take cover." Sayo instructed, turning her back on the three teens, and focusing on Hanzo and his troops. She then narrowed her eyes. "Let us handle this for now."

"But!" Yahiko protested.

"Kid, trust us on this." Madara instructed. "If we want to take Hanzo out, we have to use our best techniques. And we can't worry about hitting the three of you by mistake. Stay under there and take cover." He then turned his focus back on Hanzo, narrowing his eyes. But he still continued standing by the trio's side, as someone had to protect the three. "Things are going to get a little wild here."

"Who are you people?" Hanzo demanded, going pale in the face because of the massive blood loss.

"Can you handle them?" Madara asked, ignoring Hanzo for now as he turned towards Sayo.

Sayo nodded, not taking her eyes off of Hanzo, one hand going to her back and reaching for the hilt of her sword with her left hand, sheathing her sword partially. "Of course," she said. "Who do you think that you're talking to?" Madara smirked. "Can I trust you to protect these kids?"

"Of course."

"I'm asking you who the hell you are!" Hanzo roared.

"Dead men don't hear my name." Sayo stated.

"Kill them!"

Several kunais were launched towards the group of five just then, but Sayo merely raised her right hand, and all the kunais were deflected – almost like there is an invisible wall or barrier surrounding her.

"She repelled it?" One of the Ame-nins muttered in disbelief.

"How did she do it?" Another Ame-nin asked in confusion.

"W-What did she just do?" Yahiko asked in bewilderment. There are simply too many shocks happening that day for him to comprehend.

Sayo then got in a crouch before letting herself fly upwards, and towards the cliff where Hanzo and his troops were, landing in front of Hanzo who immediately leapt back from Sayo by instinct, his currently only useable left hand slamming down onto the ground, and the ground beneath Sayo immediately began swirling, revealing the thousands of explosive tags heading towards the redhead.

"Explosive tags?" Yahiko shouted in horror, his eyes bulging out at the sheer numbers of it. "Hanzo, you bastard!"

"If all of those go off at the same time, she'll die!" Konan screamed.

"Get away!" Nagato added in his input.

"Don't worry," said Madara nonchalantly, his arms crossed over his chest. "As long as it has something to do with seals, it wouldn't work against Sayo."

"Huh?"

Sayo's eyes narrowed as she saw the explosive tags. "A tag barrier?" she muttered. "Good, but not good enough." She then formed an unfamiliar handseal with her left hand as the explosive tags began crawling towards her, and before the disbelieving eyes of all Ame-nins present, the tags stopped it's descent, and the seals on it actually turned black – indicating that the explosive seals inscribed in it were disabled.

Madara smirked from where he is. _'All tags that the shinobi world uses now, and even all those that have to do with seals, are all things that Sayo had created and came up with,' _he thought. _'Using her own creations against her is almost like using a toy against it's creator. It won't work against her. She created them. She can disable them just as easily.'_

"W-What the?" Hanzo muttered.

"I'll give you points for trying, but it's no use," said Sayo simply. She then closed her eyes. "I guess there's no helping it. Normally, I wouldn't do things like this, but you've just about pissed me off now! And I have some steam to blow off anyway. You people can do as my punching bags!" Her eyes then snapped opened again, a dangerous look in her eyes, and Hanzo narrowed his eyes at the ripple pattern in those blue-red eyes.

"You're no ordinary kid, are you?" Hanzo questioned. "And those eyes…"

One of the Root ANBUs drew out his blade. "Get her!" he commanded, and that was the cue for all Root ANBUs to jump into battle…against their very first commander.

Sayo narrowed her eyes before pushing up the sleeve of her left arm, revealing the summon tattoos inscribed on it before she swiped some blood down on it. She then slammed her left hand against the ground, calling out, "Tri Summoning!"

A large cloud of white smoke appeared as the ANBUs leapt towards Sayo. They were suddenly all knocked out of the way by a large snout emerging from within the cloud of smoke, and when the smoke had cleared away, all Ame-nins present nearly wetted in their pants when they saw three gargantuan wolves in front of them, with Sayo kneeling on the head of the middle one.

Even Yahiko, Nagato and Konan blanched at the size of those three wolves.

Those three wolves were easily the _largest _wolves that they have ever seen in their entire lives. Each was nearly as tall as a mountain, almost looking like they could touch the moon with their snouts alone at their full heights. The wolf in the middle, the one that Sayo was kneeling on, seemed to be the largest of the three, and also the leader.

His coat is that of a mixture between midnight blue and black, with streaks of silver through it. A black eye-patch was over his right eye, with a scar just visible behind that eye-patch, with the scar stopping just a little below his forehead. There was also a red bandanna tied around his neck, with a silver crescent moon marking in the middle, with a line through the moon, reaching from the top to the bottom.

The other two wolves have similar bandannas around their necks, and even looked similar to the first wolf, with the only difference being that they didn't have the eye-patch or the scars. The coat of the wolf on the right is a beautiful pure silver, whilst the coat of the wolf on the left is that of a deep midnight black.

"You can't be serious…" Yahiko muttered in disbelief, staring at those three summonings. "The legendary Night Wolves… I never thought that I'd ever get to see them."

"They're an impressive sight as always." Madara commented.

Santen, the Alpha wolf of the Night Wolves glanced up towards his head where the _only _summoner of his clan was kneeling down on one knee still. "You hadn't summoned me for ages, and the moment that you do, you attempt the Tri Summoning – summoning me and my two brothers at once?" Santen questioned incredulously. His one golden eye then scanned over the obviously scared ninjas in front of him, and he then narrowed his one visible eye. "And I see that you sure had gotten yourself into some trouble…again."

Sayo smiled. "Good to see you too, Santen," she said. She then glanced over at the two wolves. "Good to see you both as well, Fenrir, Kurai."

Fenrir, the black wolf only grunted, whilst Kurai, the silver wolf, smiled at Sayo in a way that only wolves can. Santen snorted. "Alright. Done with the greetings and 'how-do-you-dos'," he said. He then narrowed his one visible eye at the Ame-nins. "It's been awhile since I managed to go into battle after all. Let's hope that these guys won't disappoint me."

"The moon is beautiful tonight as well." Fenrir commented, glancing at the full moon in the sky. "Our power is at its peak." He glanced at his two brothers. "Shall we?"

Santen then let out a loud howl that nearly blew all ninjas flat on their faces and nearly deafened them all before turning his eternal glare at the ninjas in front of them, including an extremely shocked Hanzo who most definitely didn't expect to see one of the legendary summons in front of him.

"Let's," said Santen with a nod.

Fenrir and Santen then took off running, with Kurai staying where he was, but the silver wolf opened his mouth and let loose a loud howl that sent several orbs of light scattering all over the place, killing at least ten to twenty ninjas each time that it connected with the ground. Fenrir, the more battle loving of the three wolves simply tore through the terrified Ame-nins with his ferocious teeth, easily tearing them apart literally.

"Sayo!" Santen called out whilst taking out Ame-nins left and right, rolling his single eye skywards to look at his summoner.

"I know!" Sayo snapped, slamming both her hands together whilst on Santen's head, using her chakra to stick herself to his head, and muttering something beneath her breath. The souls of all the dead ninjas were then forced out of their bodies and absorbed into the silver sealing bracelet that Sayo had always worn around her left wrist.

Finally, Santen came to a stop before Hanzo. "I see," said the blonde Ame-nin. "So that's how it is. I didn't expect for you to possess the legendary summoning contract of the Night Wolves, and neither did I expect for you to possess the Rinnegan as well. But this is not over yet!"

In the midst of Hanzo forming a handseal, he then froze. As the moon came out from behind the clouds, everyone could then see dark chains that doesn't seem to be made of any substance in this world wrapped around Hanzo's body and his limbs, with the chains ending beneath the front paws of each of the three wolves.

"W-What is that?"

"The Night Wolves dominate over the night." Santen growled. "Our power is parallel to none but only the phoenixes who reigns over the day because we _are _the night itself. As our only summoner, Sayo has some of the abilities that we granted to every summoner that we have."

"What?"

Hanzo then stiffened as he felt the cold blade of a sword at his neck. He turned his neck as much as he could to look over his shoulder only to see the redhead kunoichi standing behind him with a sword in her left hand, with the blade of said sword currently resting at his neck.

When did she get there?

"Your back is open," said Sayo simply before she cut through Hanzo's neck with such force behind it that his head was clean cut off his shoulders without releasing any blood whatsoever.

It was over.

"She did it." Yahiko spoke in wonder at last. "She really did it. She really killed Hanzo. He really is dead." A smile spread over his face. "He really is dead."

Santen bared a smile on his face. "It's over," he growled. He then looked down at Sayo. "We should get going as well. We can't stay long in this world with the Tri Summoning. Come and visit us again, Sayo."

Sayo nodded. "Thanks for the help."

The three wolves then vanished in a puff of white smoke.

Sayo sighed tiredly, sheathing her sword. A slight rustle reaches her ears, and she then turned only to see one barely alive Root ANBU struggling to his feet, before he stopped in his tracks at the sight of Sayo staring straight at him.

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "I won't kill you," she said simply. "I want you to take a message back to Shimura Danzo for me. 'Ninjas from other villages do not interfere in the political affairs of another village'. Also, if you ever see him, tell him this." She narrowed her eyes. "Tell him that Sayo-sensei sends her regards."

* * *

_A/N: Regarding the 'All-Ice' or 'Alice' mentioned in the earlier part of this chapter, it is actually a true story. The coffin was actually discovered back during the Titanic incident back in April 1912 where over 1,000 people have drowned at sea when the ship had struck an iceberg. The body discovered of 'Alice' is believed to be that of an Egyptian princess back during the time of the Pharaoh where the bodies of the royal family were preserved with some unknown method._

_I simply thought it fit to use some of the themes in that incident for this chapter. Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, and please read and review!_


	17. Special Chapter, Christmas Day Special

Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! As an early Christmas day present, this will be a special chapter for Second Chances. This takes place about a year after Sayo and Madara's marriage. Thus, Izuna is already dead in this chapter, and Seina is still in a coma.

Also, to answer some questions from a few reviewers: yes, this story is AU, and yes, Danzo loves his sensei. And even though the guy respects his sensei, he does have a reason for still going after the Hokage seat like he does. Put yourself in the guy's shoes. Konoha during the time of the founding, and during the time of the Shodaime and Nidaime is a Konoha that is strong and will take no nonsense from anyone, and I hadn't heard of any alliances formed with other villages during that time as well.

The Nidaime ruled Konoha with an iron fist at that time after his brother's death, being ruthless with all enemies, and he could be so to his own allies as well. Sayo and Madara have that same mindset as Tobirama, and it is in part due to them that Konoha is as strong as it is. When Hizuren took over as Hokage, his soft heartiness cause Konoha to weaken, and Danzo doesn't like that. Thus why he wanted the Hokage seat to bring Konoha back to what it once was.

And as for Roots going after the Ame trio and Sayo and Madara… Danzo poked his nose into Hanzo's affairs in search for outside allies to assist him in becoming Hokage, and he _doesn't _know that his sensei is with Tsuki, does he? Yes, it is true that he knew that his sensei wouldn't like the fact that he is interfering in political affairs that are not of his concern, but because of his goal, he ignored everything else, thus why Sayo isn't happy with him.

And regarding Konoha, yes, Sayo doesn't like them, but she holds no ill will towards those that loved and respected her either – Danzo, Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Tobirama. As for the others, she is either neutral towards them or just plain loathes them, as they are a symbol of that which she hated most. I hope that answers your questions, and Merry Christmas, everyone!

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: Special Chapter, Christmas Day Special**

A day before Christmas can see several patrons patronising the shops of Tanzaku-Gai for some last minute Christmas shopping. Christmas week is always the coldest week of the winter season, with snow and slippery streets lining the paths.

Uchiha Sayo is also currently in Tanzaku-Gai, doing some last minute Christmas shopping, wearing a dark red coat over her usual ninja clothing, and switching her sandals out for some boots, along with every other ninja if they do not want to get frostbite during winter. A white silk scarf was wrapped around her neck, keeping her warm, as she went about getting her shopping done.

For once, Madara isn't with her. The young clan head of the Uchiha clan is now busy overseeing several clan affairs ever since his father had passed the mantle of clan head to him a year ago when they have married, and Uchiha Hideki had then retired completely, only staying on as an advisor of sorts to his son.

Unlike how most men are to their wives, Madara had never minded going shopping with his wife or even becoming her 'pack mule'. In fact, the young man had often pondered why most men hated going shopping with their wives. And then again, Madara had never liked Sayo going out of his sight for even a moment because of a certain Senju.

"I guess that's it." Sayo muttered, surveying her shopping list in her hand, stuffing several sealing scrolls into her pack where she had just sealed all her shopping items into it, seeing as how Madara isn't here to help her carry those bags.

A gust of wind passed her just then, and Sayo turned only to see a young girl of about nine or so running past her, laughing cheerfully, as another girl and two other boys her age were chasing after her, all laughing merrily.

"Wait! Wait! Yumi-chan!" The second girl called after her friend. "Wait for us!"

"You're too slow!"

Their merry laughter then faded away as they disappeared around a corner, and the edges of Sayo's lips twitched slightly. That sight had brought up some memories for her. Of the last Christmas that she had shared with Seina, Izuna and Madara before Izuna had died and Seina had lapsed into a coma.

**

* * *

**

"_Come on, don't be such a spoilsport, Sayo." Seina proclaimed cheerfully as she dragged her reluctant friend with her to who-knows-where, the snow crunching beneath their boots as they walked. The weather is getting colder, and as such, both of them are bundled in warm coats. "Just spending a day away from your books and studies won't kill you!"_

"_Where are we going anyway?" Sayo asked with a sigh. "I only came along as you said that it wouldn't take long."_

"_Honestly! It is Christmas today! At least take the day off!" Seina frowned._

"_Oi!" _

_A loud shout reaches their ears as Seina dragged Sayo to the plaza of the Uchiha clan enclave where the younger Uchiha children loved to play when they weren't training. When winter had fallen however, the children had built makeshift igloos that often collapsed before the end of the day, and snowmen of all sizes decorated the plaza._

_Now, pretty lights had decorated the plaza, being entwined around the trees, and several tables and chairs were even brought out. Several plates and foods of all kinds imaginable were on the tables, and is that a Christmas tree that Sayo see there?_

"_What is going on?" Sayo asked, bewildered, as Izuna and Madara approached them, identical grins on their faces._

"_A Christmas party!" Izuna cheered, pumping his fist into the air. "There hadn't been anything of much cause to celebrate of late, and tou-san thought that since it's Christmas, we might as well hold a party! It's a day of celebration after all."_

"_And you can at least drop your reading for a day." Seina added, snatching the thick tome out of Sayo's grasp. "Christmas is a time for celebration."_

"_Oh. And Sayo? Nii-san?" Izuna grinned at the two mentioned just as a pair of Uchiha ninjas jogged past them, a relatively long table held in between them both. Madara raised a questioningly eyebrow at his brother whilst Sayo merely stared on. Izuna's grin only widened, and Madara immediately felt alarm bells going off in his head as he recognised that as his brother's 'prankster look'. "If you both want to snog, the mistletoe is somewhere over there." Izuna grinned a grin that looks as if it would split his face in half as he waved his hand somewhere towards the direction of the large Christmas tree._

_Madara and Sayo looked quickly at each other that only made things worse before turning back towards Izuna. "Your ass is mine!" Madara yelled as he whipped out a kunai before he chased a terrified-looking Izuna around the plaza, much to all the Uchihas' amusement at seeing the two Uchiha brothers 'play' a game of tag._

_Seina laughed as she watched the two run about all over the place, rubbing a slight bulge on her abdomen, signifying that she is carrying Izuna's child. Sayo frowned as she stared at Seina, and the latter raised an eyebrow. "What?" Seina asked innocently, an act that Sayo didn't buy in the least._

"_You both are playing matchmaker again, aren't you?" Sayo asked with a resigned sigh._

_Seina only smiled an innocent angelic smile back at her best friend, and Sayo wouldn't even be surprised to see angel wings suddenly sprout out from Seina's back or even see a halo form above her head._

"_Why, whatever could you be talking about?" Seina questioned innocently._

_Sayo sighed._

**

* * *

**

Sayo smiled a small sad smile. _'Izuna… Seina…' _she thought before looking up into the skies and shielding her eyes from the sun. _'The war is over at last, and all the fighting going on between the shinobi clans have came to an end at long last. We don't have to continue fighting any longer. But…' _She tightened one hand into a tight fist by her side. _'I wish that you are both still here with us.' _

Sayo smiled slightly as she looked into the glass display window of the shop that she is currently standing outside of. Several Christmas products were on display, including a beautifully crafted Christmas paperweight within a glass dome that had snowflakes raining down within it onto a miniature town within it.

'_War is deception. It brings nothing but more pain and suffering to both sides. There is no real victory in a war. The real victor is the one that walks away from the battlefield breathing and alive. The road to peace is also often paved with the blood of war.' _Sayo thought. _'You just might be right about that, Izuna. I didn't like the idea of the Senju-Uchiha alliance as well, though the fact that I was almost married off to Senju Hashirama probably had something to do with it. But even I can't deny the fact that we have peace at last. Maybe it is just something temporary. But I'll savour it for as long as it lasts. I want to help keep that peace, and to see those smiles on the children's faces. I don't want to see Haru grow up the way that we did.'_

"Sayo?"

Sayo turned around only to see Madara standing behind her, dressed in a black coat with black boots on his feet, a gray scarf wound around his neck. The redhead smiled back at him as he stepped up to her and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

"Done with your shopping?" Madara asked, and Sayo nodded. "Sorry. The meeting kept me longer than anticipated."

Sayo shook her head. "It's alright," she said. "Christmas is always the most beautiful season of all." She smiled. "It is also the most peaceful. I could almost see Izuna and Seina here with us."

Madara said nothing to that.

_He could almost see Seina bending over her knees as she peered in at the shop display window through the slightly frosted over window glass, her breaths forming a slight mist over the glass, her cheeks slightly red from the cold as she smiled at something that she had seen and liked in the display window._

"_Izuna! Look! Look! That looks pretty, isn't it?" Seina exclaimed, pointing at whatever had caught her eye._

"_Where? Where?" Izuna asked, peering over Seina's shoulder to see whatever had caught her eye. He then smiled. "Ah? That? You're right. That's beautiful."_

"_Isn't it?"_

_Izuna grinned. "Want me to get that for you?" he asked._

_The smile on Seina's face is probably reward enough for Izuna, never mind the price of whatever that had caught her eye. "Really? Thank you!"_

"_Hey, it's a man's duty to make his wife happy," said Izuna with a grin. He then turned towards his brother and Sayo. "Nii-san, how about you? How about getting something for Sayo? Christmas is a time for thanksgiving and gifts, after all."_

_Seina nodded enthusiastically next to Izuna. "That's right!" she chirped. "Let us be the ones giving you something for a change, Sayo!"_

"_It's Christmas after all!"_

_The joined tinkling laughter of Izuna and Seina faded away._

The small snowflakes falling from the skies brought Sayo and Madara out of their thoughts just then, and Sayo looked up into the sky only to see snowflakes falling to the ground. "Snow…" she muttered, holding out one outstretched palm only to have the snowflakes fall onto her opened palm. Madara watched her silently. "'Falling like diamonds. Falling like raindrops. Once fallen, never to be seen again'." Sayo smiled and turned towards Madara. "That old poem." She then stared at the paperweight displayed in the window, and Madara smiled slightly at this. "'And just like magic, it is to be seen again the next day'."

A paper bag came into her line of sight just then, and Sayo blinked before turning to stare at Madara. "It's Christmas after all," he said, a smile pulling at the sides of his lips. "Merry Christmas."

Sayo smiled and opened the paper bag only to see the paperweight of the miniature town that she had been eyeing for the past half hour within it. "Thank you," she said softly. "I'm afraid that I don't have anything—"

Madara shook his head. "You being here for me is the greatest Christmas gift that you can give me," he stated.

Sayo smiled at that.

The lifting tunes of a Christmas carol echoed through the air just then, and both Sayo and Madara turned around only to see a group of five teenagers around the ages of seventeen or so all dressed in red coats with black scarves, all standing around the enormous Christmas tree in the middle of the town, all singing a Christmas carol. The townspeople were also stopping in their tracks to listen to them.

_Nemurenai yoru ga kite kokoro wa tadayou  
__Owari no nai monogatari anohi no koibito yo_

_Wakasugi iru futari ni wa yabio wa fukasugi asahimo mitsukera retsuni  
__Wakare daao hitoki  
__Rimaraa raka rehateta ai wo yo migare you  
__Zutto no iko tobasae itoshi nu koeru_

_N__emurenai yoru ga kite kokoro wa tadayou  
__O__wari no nai monogatari anohi no koibito yo  
__H__ageshi kuaishi yau kage wa shingidou  
__S__aigo no koi dakara kioku wa kesenai_

_K__asugi iru futari ni wa yabio wa fukasugi asahimo mitsukera retsuni  
__W__akare daao hitoki  
__N__emurenai yoru ga kite kokoro wa tadayou  
__O__wari no nai monogatari anohi no koibito yo anohi no koibito yo_

Madara smiled before placing out a hand to Sayo. "Shall we go home?" he asked, and Sayo smiled before taking his hand before the two then walked back to the Uchiha clan enclave hand-in-hand.

_Merry Christmas._

_

* * *

_

_A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone! Even though it still is one day too early. And I hope that you've enjoyed this special Christmas Day special. Consider this my Christmas gift to you guys for your continuous support and encouragements to me throughout the duration of this story. _

_The song used in this chapter is actually the Japanese version of the famous Christmas carol 'Greensleeves'. Otake Yuki sings the song that I've used in this chapter. You can find this song on Youtube, and I recommend that you listen to it as it is a great song, and she captured the emotions of that song really well. Also, the poem that Sayo had recited in this chapter? It is something that I've made up, so it technically didn't exist sans for this chapter._

_Also, I've decided that I'm just going to ignore the flamer that I'm talking about in the previous chapter. I originally wanted to do something about those remarks, and then one of my friends told me 'why bother? You can't please everyone. Most importantly, please YOURSELF.' _

_And I've decided that she's right. I'm writing here on FFnet not because of anything, but because I __**wanted **__to, and I love to write and read, and see that people are enjoying my stories._

_Anyway, Merry Christmas, people, and here is to a successful 2011!_


	18. Tales of the Past

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Tales of the Past**

_Hospital  
__Tsukigakure no sato, Tsuki no kuni_

Sayo silently changed the flowers in the vase by the bedside table before settling down onto the visitor chair next to the bed. Like always, the person lying in the bed was still and unmoving, and only the machines attached to her was the only way that Sayo could tell that she is still alive.

It has been nearly thirty or so years ever since Sayo and Madara have both left Konoha, and even longer than that ever since Uchiha Seina had lapsed into a coma, and until today, not even Sayo understood just why Seina had never seemed to age throughout all these years.

Years of being in a coma without any solid foods entering her system had taken its toll on Seina, and her complexion is extremely pale, and her once shoulder length raven locks had now reached nearly to her ankles. It would have actually been longer than that if Sayo hadn't taken it upon herself to cut Seina's hair once it reaches past her ankles. Seina's cheekbones were also pretty obvious by now, and so were the joints in her fingers. If the redhead hadn't known any better, she would have thought that Seina is a skeleton masquerading as a human being.

Sayo sighed before pulling out another seashell from her pocket and looked at it for several moments before placing it on the bedside table to join the already rather large collection of shells on the table. Sayo had kept up with the tradition that she had first begun when Seina had first lapsed into a coma all those years back: she left one seashell per day with every visit that she made to Seina after every visit that she had made to any other places outside the village.

When Seina had first lapsed into a comatose state, Sayo's visits to her had been nearly every day. But after decades, and with the start of the Second, then the Third Great Shinobi War, Sayo had reduced her visits to once per week. But there are times when she can only visit Seina once every two weeks because of her job as Tsukigakure's head tactician, and with the missions that she usually undertake to ensure the village's safety.

"Seina…" Sayo muttered, looking at the pale face of her best friend, and comparing it to the bright and rosy cheeks that her best friend had once upon a time. She could hardly believe that the same cheerful girl back then and the person lying in this bed now is the same person.

The redhead gritted her teeth.

Every single time that she had visited Seina, she can't help but curse Senju Hashirama for doing this to her…to them. He is the reason why Haru had never known his parents whilst he was growing up, and he is also the reason why Seina had lost nearly forty or so years of time of her life. He is also the reason why Sayo and Madara have both left the village.

"It has been nearly forty years, Seina." Sayo muttered, taking her best friend's hand in her own and rubbing small circles on the back of her hand with her thumb, careful to avoid the tube that feeds Seina's body with the necessary fluids and nutrients necessary to keep her alive. "You've been asleep all this while. The world had changed tremendously whilst you were asleep. When are you going to wake up? You've missed out on lots of things."

Sayo felt a hand on her shoulder just then, and looked up only to see Madara standing next to her with an understanding look on his face, and she smiled back at him as she placed one hand over his before turning back towards Seina.

"Haru's first steps, his first words, and even his first day at the Academy. You've missed them all. You've even missed our wedding, and Haru's own wedding to Miki. You've missed the birth of their first-born, and missed the chance to carry your first grandchild in your arms. You weren't there when Hideki-sama had passed away. You weren't there when Konoha had officially commenced as a hidden village." Sayo's lips trembled with emotion, and Madara tightened his grip on her shoulder. "You weren't there…you weren't there when the Uchiha clan was finally acknowledged for our power. And you…you weren't there when I needed you the most…" Sayo almost whispered the last part before she wiped the tears brimming around her eyes with the back of her hand. "I understand that it isn't something that you can help, but… I miss you so much. I want to see you open your eyes again, speak to me, laugh with us, and do everything that you used to do with us. Please Seina… Won't you wake up?"

The consistent beeping sounds of the machines greeted Sayo instead, and she sighed before getting up from the visitor's chair that she was in. The room that Seina was in had obvious signs of her being a constant patient here, with the flowers, books and even posters in the hospital room. There were even photos of Haru, Sayo and Madara taken, and even earlier photos of Sayo, Madara, Izuna and Seina. There was even a photo of that on the day of Haru's birth.

Sayo had kept all those pictures in perfect condition, and had thought that placing those photos here would probably help Seina to wake up. It hadn't shown much of an effect yet, but still, Sayo still kept hoping.

Madara grasped both of Sayo's hands and nodded to her gingerly without saying a word. After having been married for this long, Madara doesn't need to use words to communicate what he wants to Sayo. The redhead nodded back before turning back towards Seina, looking over her shoulder at the raven-haired girl lying on the bed.

"I have to go," she said. "I'll come back soon, Seina."

Madara then led Sayo out of Seina's hospital room, and closed the door behind them. He then stopped at the wall just outside Seina's hospital room as Sayo leaned against the wall with her back against it. The redhead had her head bowed down so that Madara couldn't see her face, but he knew full well what Sayo is feeling. He felt the same way too every single time he came here to visit his sister-in-law, but he knew that it is a hundred times worst for Sayo, since Seina had been her best friend, and almost like a sister to her.

"She'll wake up one day," said Madara. He winced internally. He said the same thing every single time that Sayo looked so down after visiting Seina. "I'm sure of it. Nothing can make Seina stay down for long."

"When?" Sayo muttered without looking up at Madara, still leaning against the wall. "When is she going to wake up? I have so much to tell her. I have so much to do with her. Just like that, she's lost almost forty years of her life, maybe even more. Forty years… So much has happened, and the world has changed tremendously during that time as well. So tell me. When is she going to wake up? And once she wakes up, what am I going to tell her? How am I going to tell her that forty, nearly fifty years of her life is gone just like that, when probably, to her, it has only been a few days since her battle with Hashirama? How am I going to tell her that Izuna has been dead for nearly half a century? How am I going to tell her that the Uchiha clan had fallen as to succumb to political views instead of facing up to their pride as a ninja? How am I going to tell her that her baby boy has grown up, has a family of his own, a wife and sons, and is now just a name on the memorial stone of Konoha? How am I going to tell her that Hideki-sama is dead? How am I going to tell her that nearly everyone that she knew is now dead?

Madara was taken aback when Sayo rested her forehead against his chest, fisting the garments of the jounin uniform that he is wearing beneath his Tsukikage cloak into her hands. She was trembling slightly, and Madara could tell that she is crying to herself. He sighed and wrapped his arms around his wife in a protective embrace.

"How…how am I going to tell her all that once she wakes up?" Sayo whispered. "Sometimes, I hope that she would never awaken so that she doesn't have to face all that; the truth is too cruel for her. But there are also times when I hoped that she would wake up soon so that Seina can see for herself just what Haru's life had been. Is it too selfish of me?"

"No," said Madara with a sigh, tightening his embrace around Sayo. "Because I wish for the same thing too."

**XXXXXX**

_Roots' Headquarters  
__Konohagakure no sato_

Shimura Danzo glared at the fidgeting shinobi in front of him; the _only _survivor out of the entire squad that he had sent to Ame to assist that fool Hanzo. The shinobi had just finished giving Danzo his report, and Danzo's glare had grown frostier and frostier with each word that the man had said that the shinobi wished that the mysterious redhead back in Ame had killed him instead.

"If you're lying, you had better start praying." Danzo threatened, curling one hand into a fist.

"No sir. I am not lying." His shinobi insisted. "That's what that redhead had said when she had left me alive. She said to tell Shimura Danzo that 'Sayo-sensei sends her regards'."

Danzo frowned at his ninja as his brain worked furiously.

His teacher had been the legendary tactician of Konoha, and so far, there hasn't been another tactician that had appeared yet who could rival her marvellous skills. Not even the Nara clan who had been known to produce genius tacticians and strategists could compare to her skills back then. And naturally, as her student, Danzo had learned some war and battle strategies and tactics from her, which explains his nickname as the 'War Hawk'.

Uchiha Sayo had taught him how to plan strategies and how to plan battles. She had taught him how to turn even the most unfortunate of situations and direst of battles into their favour. She had taught him to use whatever that he could to turn the situation into their favour. She had taught him to be a true shinobi. She had taught him when to stay on the offensive and when to know how to retreat. She had taught him how to turn a failure into a success. That is what an ANBU of the underground ANBU Roots truly are.

"Did she say anything else?" Danzo asked carefully. He remembered all his teacher's lessons and words of wisdom to him. If the person that his shinobi had mentioned truly is Sayo-sensei, then she would have said something to confirm her identity: something that only Danzo would know.

"Yes sir," said the shinobi, not daring to meet his leader's eyes, and still kneeling on the ground. "'Ninjas from other villages do not interfere in the political affairs of another village'. That is what she said."

Danzo's eyes widened.

"_But why?" A young twelve-year-old Danzo asked in bewilderment, staring up at his teacher as they both stood on the head of the First Hokage on the Hokage monument, looking over the village of Konoha. "Why can't we go and help? With Konoha's current military strength and might—"_

"_Precisely, Danzo," said Uchiha Sayo solemnly, looking down at her student, the ends of the coat that she is wearing swaying gently in the breeze. "It is precisely because of our current military strength and might that we __**must not **__interfere in Taki's affairs, especially after they have just lost their leader."_

"_But why?" Danzo asked again. "Shouldn't they be thankful for the help? Aren't we allies?"_

_Sayo smiled. "How nice that you put it, Danzo," she said. She then turned more serious. "Listen Danzo. And you have to remember this. We might put our relationship with Takigakure as 'allies', but in actual fact, we just have a mutual agreement between us. We don't enter Taki's lands; they won't create trouble for us. The peace agreement that the ninja villages of each nation had now with each other…it is only a form of mutual agreement between us, and isn't exactly stable now. One wrong move would spark off a war. And I think that all of us are long sick and tired of war. I know that I am."_

"_But it isn't right!" Danzo muttered. "Taki is in trouble now! Shouldn't we go and help them instead of worrying about something like this?"_

_Sayo sighed. "I don't like this any better than you do, but you have to understand that politics is a dangerous game," she explained. "And besides, it is every man for himself out there. You can only trust yourself, Danzo, in the world of politics and war. That is the life of a ninja. And furthermore, ninjas from other villages do not interfere in the political affairs of another village."_

Danzo suddenly felt a headache coming on. "Alright. You're dismissed," he said, waving a hand dismissingly at the shinobi in front of him who saluted him and exited from his office. The Roots commander then sighed before taking the photo frame on his desk and studying the photo resting within the silver frame.

The photo was that of an eighteen-year-old version of himself, along with Haru, Sayo and Madara, alongside five-year-old versions of Orochimaru and Jiraiya, all standing outside the Hokage Tower.

Danzo sighed as he studied the photo. _'Sensei, could it really be you?' _Danzo thought. _'I had never believed that you and Madara-sama are dead, but could it really be you?' _He studied the photo even closer, gazing at the image of a smiling Haru. "Haru-sempai…" He muttered. Danzo then sighed. "Sorry. I promised you to take care of the Uchiha clan before your passing, but it seems like I had been failing you every single day. There's only so much that I can do…"

"Shimura-sempai."

A soft voice greeted him just then, along with a knock on the opened door of his office, and Danzo immediately placed the photo frame on his desk before turning around to face the entrance of his office only to see a solemn looking Orochimaru standing at the doorway.

"Orochimaru? You're back?" Danzo questioned.

"Hai," said Orochimaru with a nod. "Jiraiya is back with me as well. We're here to give Hokage-sama status reports on all the squads sent out, as well as to receive new orders, and some supplies if we can get some." He looked at Danzo grimly. "The situation isn't looking good for us…"

Danzo sighed. "If only sensei is here," he muttered miserably. "If only she is here…"

Orochimaru smiled a small smile. "Yeah, I had been hearing Jiraiya whining about that for days now," he said. "'If only Sayo-sensei is here…'" He then sighed. "I ran into your shinobi a few moments earlier down the hallway. He told me what had happened in Amegakure." He turned serious. "Is it true? Is Sayo-sensei…?"

Danzo sighed loudly. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "But then again, she is the only one who can use such techniques. And you and I both know that we have never really believed that Sayo-sensei and Madara-sama are dead."

"But where has she gone all these years then if she is still alive? What has she been doing all these years?" Orochimaru wondered.

"I wonder." Danzo muttered. "This village…" He stood up from his seat and walked towards the window, looking down at the village of Konoha, a grim smile curling at the ends of his lips. "Konoha is her lifetime's work. Sayo-sensei. She, Madara-sama, Tobirama-sama…and Shodaime-sama… They founded and built Konoha to what it was today. But most of the work was done by Sayo-sensei and Madara-sama. Even until now, they still protected Konoha with their work from decades ago – the security system, and the seal alarms system." Danzo clenched one hand into a fist. "And yet this village… They don't have the right to degrade her name and the name of her clan!"

Orochimaru sighed. "Yeah. Jiraiya has been telling me that his old student, Fugaku or something, had been complaining about that. He said that his father had been having problems with the council or something."

"This village has grown weak because of Sarutobi's soft heartedness." Danzo snorted. "This is a _ninja village. _Mind explaining to me just why civilians got a say in how this village is ran?" Orochimaru said nothing, and Danzo muttered something beneath his breath. "This village is growing weaker. It is no longer the same Konoha that I knew when I was a boy. I won't allow that to happen. Not while I'm still alive! I'll be the Hokage. Either you or me." He glanced at Orochimaru who looked startled. "Jiraiya means well, as he had taken Sayo-sensei's teachings to heart as well, but he has adopted to Sarutobi's policies too. If a Senju supporter is Hokage, it'll only make things worse for the Uchiha clan. Even a human's tolerance has limits. There's only so much that they could take."

Orochimaru sighed. "That's true."

**XXXXXX**

_Tsukikage's Office  
__Tsukigakure no sato, Tsuki no kuni_

The Ame trio whom Sayo and Madara have both rescued from the clutches of Salamander Hanzo have arrived in Tsukigakure as promised when Sayo and Madara have left them nearly a week ago. With Hanzo dead, it is the three of them who are now ruling Amegakure, with Yahiko as the leader, much to his distaste.

And now, with things in Ame mostly settling down now, Yahiko, Konan and Nagato have left someone whom they trusted in charge whilst they travelled to Tsukigakure to get the answers that they wanted. They have to wait at one of the shinobi outposts in Tsuki no kuni for about an hour before a Tsuki-nin arrived to take them to the village, but the trio was patient.

And now…

"T-That is…!" Nagato gasped as he saw the ripple-like pattern in Sayo's eyes as she activated her doujutsu after Sayo and Madara have told them who they are.

"It is just like Nagato's…" Konan almost whispered. "The Rinnegan…"

Yahiko was doing a very impressive imitation of a fish as Madara watched on with amusement. Sayo then sighed before she deactivated her doujutsu. "Originally, we weren't planning on telling anyone this, as the lesser people who knew about this, the better," she said, exchanging looks with Madara. "But we suspect that Hanzo might be one of 'his' inner people as well."

Yahiko frowned. "'His'?" he echoed.

Madara sighed before standing up from behind his desk. "Ame wasn't like this in the past, is it?" he stated bluntly, and the Ame trio shook their heads. "I thought so." He exchanged looks with Sayo before turning back towards them. "You see, we first got an interest in Ame and Hanzo because his methods of ruling Ame with fear is rather similar to the tactics of a certain someone whom we knew in the past."

"Who?"

There was silence for several moments before Sayo answered with a look on her face that suggested that she had just smelled something foul. "Toshigaki Hiore," she answered.

"Toshigaki…"

"…Hiore?"

"He is someone whom we fought against back during the shinobi clan wars." Madara explained. "He is a shinobi of fearsome power. So much so that even Sayo could do nothing but just seal him away."

"And unlike what you think, Hiore is no ally of people," said Sayo bluntly. She narrowed her eyes. "He _uses _people. Back then, I only had enough power to seal him away. I wasn't able to kill him, even though Madara had been with me back then. I wasn't able to kill him. He holds a terrifying power. So much so that I doubt if he is even human. But even seals aren't eternal. Make no mistake, he _will_ be back one day. That's part of the reason why we're even gathering comrades. Without a doubt, Raven's Gate – the organisation that Hiore had formed, is doing the same thing as well for the past few years."

"But what are they planning?" Konan wanted to know, sounding oddly spooked.

Madara and Sayo exchanged looks. "We have no idea." Madara admitted. "That's why we're investigating. But it isn't easy, as Raven's Gate had all but dropped off the surface of the earth for nearly fifty years now. But we know that they're still around."

"Furthermore, fighting isn't all about winning or losing," said Sayo with a sigh. "For us who have seen wars and know battles, we know this better than anyone else. There is no victor if everyone dies in the end. The real victor is the one who survives. But because of Hiore and Raven's Gate, we're building a counter force against him. We name it the _Akatsuki." _She glanced at the three. "Would you give us a hand?"

The Ame trio said nothing for several moments before exchanging looks and grinning. Yahiko then turned back towards Sayo. "If this Raven's Gate and Hiore is threatening the peace and is about to bring war down upon our heads again, then I'll stop him," he stated. "We're in."

Madara nodded. "Good," he said. "But in the meantime, please keep Akatsuki's existence a secret." Yahiko nodded.

"This Hiore…" Nagato said slowly. "What is he?"

"He goes by many names," said Sayo with a sigh. "The most prominent one being the one that he was known by back during the time of the shinobi clan wars." She narrowed her eyes. _"Abe no Seimei."_


	19. Melody of Agony

About the mention of Abe no Seimei in the previous chapter, he is actually a famous historian figure in Japan during the Heian era, being a famous onmyouji, and there were rumours that his mother is actually a fox demon which explains his unusually strong powers for an onmyouji. I initially had this idea from reading Nurarihyon no Mago, so…

Anyway, this chapter will explain some of the questions that I'm sure some of you have about the Uchiha Sayo from Shikamaru, Sakura and Neji's original timeline. Senju Hashirama lovers probably won't like this chapter much though, as he is portrayed in an even worse light than before.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Melody of Agony**

_Training Ground Seven  
__Konohagakure no sato_

It is near sunset, with the sun slowly sinking down into the horizon, and the skies were being painted a beautiful orange-red as Haruno Sakura walked slowly into training ground seven, a bouquet of white lilies garnered in her arms. The pink haired kunoichi's lips then quirked into a small smile as she looked around the training ground where she is in. It is the exact same training ground that she and her old genin team have trained at as genin. Even the training posts were still there, and for a moment, she could almost see Sayo tied to the middle post…

Sakura then shook her head to clear her mind of those images before heading straight towards the monument stone located near training ground seven which is a tribute to all their fallen heroes. The pink haired kunoichi placed the bouquet of white lilies onto the ground at the foot of the monument stone, joining the already small collection of items and other flower bouquets already gathered there before placing both hands together and muttering a small prayer beneath her breath.

The Third Great Shinobi War is finally over, but with heavy losses.

The now twenty-one year old jounin had also met the younger version of her old jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi, in the hospital nearly six months ago when the future Yondaime Hokage had rushed him and his female student, Nishimura Rin, for a medical examination.

Apparently, the mission that they were on had gone wrong, which resulted in Minato losing one of his students – an Uchiha Obito, and Kakashi had lost his eye at the same time as well, with Obito giving Kakashi one of his Sharingan eyes. Sakura is the only medic at that time that was available, and she had taken the time to examine her old teacher's medical and physical state only to be met with the amused sight of a panicking father in the form of Hakata Sakumo who had nearly torn down the door of the examination room just to see his son.

And that had marked the start of Sakura's friendship with both the Hatakes.

Sakura opened her eyes as she read all the freshly inscribed names on the monument stone, with one 'Uchiha Obito' among them.

The Uchihas weren't pleased with the fact that Kakashi had one of their Sharingan eyes, but the Uchiha clan head had finally let it be after having a talk with Shimura Danzo. Nishimura Rin, on the other hand, had been terribly upset, and had cried bitterly for days after Obito's death, locking herself in her apartment, with her only company being a giant teddy bear nearly as large as herself that Obito had given to her as a graduation present when they have both graduated from the Academy.

Sakura is both a certified counsellor as well as a medic, and the pink haired kunoichi actually suspected that Tsunade and her husband, Katou Dan, who is the head of the jounin forces in Konoha, are both actually playing matchmaker, as Tsunade made Sakura Rin and Kakashi's medic and counsellor.

Sakura didn't have much problems reaching out to Rin, as the brunette reminded Sakura of herself when Sasuke had betrayed them, and had nearly killed Sayo. It is Kakashi that is the difficult one to handle, though with his father there helping him, it wasn't as bad as Sakura feared. The pink haired kunoichi is already getting teased by several of her female co-workers about her and Hatake Sakumo, much to her annoyance. And if Shikamaru and Neji's word are to be believed, the poor White Fang of Konoha is in the same position that she is in as well.

Sakura glanced at all the names of the monument stone, recalling an occasion during the time when they were fighting against the Akatsuki, and when Sayo had spoken to her at the monument stone.

_Fighting isn't all about winning or losing. For us who have seen wars, and know wars, we know this better than anyone else. There is no victor if everyone dies in the end. The real victor is the one who survives. Sakura. __**That **__is war._

Sakura sighed, pushing a lock of her pink hair out of her eyes. With the war ongoing for the past few years, she had never gotten the chance to cut it, and it had now reaches a little past her shoulders.

'_The war is over. But at what cost?' _Sakura thought, standing up. _'So many deaths… So many people have died fighting in the name of a war waged by some warmongering barbarians.' _Sakura closed her eyes briefly. _'Sayo… Is this how you had felt back then? Is this what you had meant when you say that the real victor is the one who survives?'_

The sounds of light footsteps reaches her ears just then, and Sakura turned only to see Shikamaru and Neji approaching her, both with solemn looks on their faces, though it is kind of hard to tell with Neji with that blindfold around his eyes. Sakura can't help feeling sad as she saw that blindfold, as it reminds her of Senju Tobirama's demise as well.

The Second Hokage of Konoha had perished in battle to take down nearly two quarters of Iwa's army a few months ago. That had been the turning point of the war for Konoha, and nearly two months after that, Iwa had surrendered, and the war is over.

Tsunade had cried bitterly after Sarutobi Hizuren had brought her news about his mentor's death, and Shimura Danzo had risked his own life to retrieve the body of Senju Tobirama from the battlefield. Fortunately for Tsunade, Katou Dan had been there for her, and after an entire day of grieving, Tsunade had returned to her normal self.

Sakura nodded to Shikamaru and Neji who both nodded back, and all three then glanced at the monument stone, paying their own respects to their fallen comrades. "To kill is to be killed. To hate is to be hated. This is the way that this world works." Shikamaru said suddenly, out of the blue.

Sakura and Neji immediately turned towards him. "Huh?"

"Sayo said that to me once." Shikamaru explained, glancing at his two friends. "Right after we have both gone after Uchiha Madara. After that battle, she became really angry after that. I don't even know why. Probably…she understood what Uchiha Madara said to her that I don't understand in the least. Sayo…always had a better understanding of the way human minds works. Sayo changed after that battle. She turned extremely angry and bitter…all the way until her disappearance. So much so that she'll only allow the three of us to go near her. She is as touchy as an angered cat, to quote Kiba."

Neji turned silently back to the monument stone, unseen eyes reading the names inscribed on the monument stone. "Probably…Sayo realised something during that battle with Uchiha Madara," he stated. "Whatever it is that she had realised…it is probably only something that she'll know."

"What had happened back then?" Sakura wondered.

Shikamaru grunted. "Who knows?" he muttered, his eyes clouding over at the memories of Uchiha Madara's final moments.

**

* * *

**

_Sayo and Shikamaru breathed heavily, both with heavy wounds and tears on their bodies and on their clothes. Sayo is grasping a broken katana in her left hand whilst Shikamaru's hands are bleeding grievously from serious chakra burns from overuse of his chakra._

_Carefully, both of them walked towards the bleeding and broken form of Uchiha Madara who had taken quite a beating from two continuous Fuuton: Rasenshuriken unleashed by Sayo that had all but shredded all the muscles in her left arm._

"_Are you satisfied now?" Sayo questioned, kneeling down by Uchiha Madara's side._

_Uchiha Madara coughed out blood, looking up at Sayo with glazed over eyes. "My…era…has really came to an end…" he rasped. "Itachi…was right." He coughed again. "You…look like her…" He reached out a shaking hand towards Sayo. "Just…like Sayo… I wonder…if we ever had a child…a daughter…if she will look like you?" Madara coughed again. "You…are just like Sayo as well."_

"_Are you satisfied now?" Shikamaru asked. "All this destruction. All the battles… The war… Akatsuki… What is it for? For what purpose? Even if you wanted to revive your wife, you shouldn't have to go to all this extent."_

"_I…wanted to destroy Konoha." Sayo and Shikamaru's eyes widened. "I hate…that village. That village that had brought nothing but pain and more suffering to…Sayo. That…man deemed it so."_

"_That man?" Sayo enquired._

_Madara coughed. "I'm dying soon anyway." He glanced up at Sayo. "If you really want to know, go the hidden shrine in the Uchiha compound. Behind the altar is a special chakra seal – one that my wife created. To unlock it, form the dog, bear, rabbit, rat and dragon seals in order, and tap the seal with your chakra. You'll…know everything then. That is if you have the courage to want to learn the truth…the horrific truth behind the first founding years of Konoha." _

_Madara coughed. "For a long time…I wanted to destroy Konoha. But…if Konoha is in the hands of someone like you…" Madara looked up at Sayo, breathing heavily. "…then just maybe…I will be satisfied. If someone like you is the Hokage…it might not be so bad after all." He coughed again, hacking up more blood as he did so. "The…future of the shinobi nations… If it is you…you might change the very soul of the shinobi. It's really too bad…that I wouldn't get to see it with my own eyes." _

_Madara breathed heavily, trying to gasp for air. Above him, Sayo and Shikamaru exchanged looks. That last attack had caused his lungs to collapse. Even for someone like him, death is certain now._

"_I'm tired." Madara slurred. "I want to sleep now. I'm really tired now. Over a hundred years…" He reached out a shaking hand towards the form of his wife in that flowerbed, and a small peaceful smile appeared on his face. "Hey Sayo… I'm not wrong, right? He and that village deserved everything that they got for what they did to us…to the clan, right? Answer me, Sayo." He coughed. "It's over now." _

_Madara glanced up with half glazed over eyes at Shikamaru and Sayo. "You both…are part of a generation that is the future of the shinobi. If it is both of you…you might just shape a future that is unlike any other." He coughed. "I want to rest now." He breathed heavily. "Izuna… Seina… Sayo…" He slurred. "I can see them." He coughed harshly. "Sayo…the dream has been fulfilled." He muttered. "By one so much like you that it almost made me feel like you are back all over again. Is this your answer?" He closed and opened his eyes briefly, yet not seemingly seeing anything at all. "I…am coming now…"_

_His eyes then slid shut._

**

* * *

**

"I'm sorry, but I need some time alone to myself for a change." Shikamaru stated before turning and leaving his friends with a light wave. The former Nara and now Kaiga then took the usual route that he always took whenever walking up to the Hokage monument where he always looked first when searching for his redheaded friend.

The shadow user then settled himself down on the top of the Third's head, looking over the village. Sayo always did like to sit here. She said that it helps her to think.

Shikamaru frowned.

_You…look like her…like Sayo… I wonder…if we ever had a child…a daughter…if she will look like you? You…are just like Sayo as well._

_Sayo…the dream has been fulfilled. By one so much like you that it almost made me feel like you are back all over again. Is this your answer?_

Shikamaru sighed before rubbing the earlobe of his left ear like how he always did when confused or frustrated. _'Sayo… What did you know?' _he wondered. _'Back then… After Sakura released us from the hospital after our battle with Uchiha Madara, you dragged me to the Uchiha compound, and headed straight for the shrine that he spoke of. We found his diary there. I don't understand the later entries before he had left the village, but you seemed to understand. What did you know? What did you learn from those entries?' _Shikamaru smiled sadly to himself before bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. _'Why…? Why did you never let me help you?'_

**XXXXXX**

"_Sayo!"_

_Uchiha Madara all but broke the bathroom door down, only to be greeted with the unmistakable strong smell of blood. He had all but grown accustomed to it by now, having been a ninja for nearly all his life. But he isn't prepared to accept the sight that he now saw before him._

_His wife, one Uchiha Sayo, slumped against the sides of the bathtub in their bathroom, with the tap of the bathtub running with water, filling the tub up slowly. Sayo's left hand was half submerged in the water, with blood slowly staining the water from that deep slit on her left wrist. A bloodstained kunai was also clutched in her right hand, her limp fingers barely clutching it._

_Madara felt almost like he had stopped breathing. There are only two occasions when he had ever felt like this. The first is when he had realised that his beloved younger brother is really dead. The second is when he had heard some nasty rumours from some Hyuuga that his wife had been sleeping with Senju Hashirama._

"_Sayo!" Madara immediately rushed to his wife's side, cradling her body in his arms, and tearing a strip off of the sleeve of his kimono and tying it around Sayo's left wrist, trying to staunch the bleeding, but to no avail. "Why did you do such a foolish thing? I had never doubted you!" He nearly screamed. "Why…?" He buried his nose into her hair, smelling the sweet smell of the shampoo that she uses for her hair. "Sayo… Why did you—"_

_A limp hand touched his cheek just then, and Madara snapped his head around only to meet with the half glazed over eyes of his wife, who is turning pale fast. "Madara… I…swear…that you…are the only one…whom I love..." Sayo whispered._

"_I know that!" Madara nearly screamed. "I had never doubted you in the least. Why did you try to kill yourself over such a foolish thing?"_

"_It's…true…" Sayo whispered, and Madara's eyes widened. "I…did sleep with…Senju Hashirama… That's why…I can't bring myself to face you…and myself…after what I'd done…"_

_Madara couldn't even find his voice for several moments before he managed to speak again. "Why? You wouldn't do such a thing for no reason at all. Did…he force you? What did he do to you? Did he threaten you? Sayo!"_

_Sayo smiled at him weakly before cupping his cheek with her right hand. Madara grasped the fingers of her right hand with his own. "I…am your wife. As your wife…I have a responsibility to protect the clan…and you." Sayo whispered. "He threatened to bring the clan down…to hurt you. He…threatened to put out rumours that the Sharingan…can control and summon demons. The Uchiha clan isn't that popular with the other shinobi clans… Such a rumour…can ruin us. The only way to stop him from doing such a thing…is to sleep with him. That's what he had said. That's why…"_

"_You shouldn't have done such a thing!" Madara almost screamed. "I can handle him easily! I should be the one that is protecting you, not the other way around! Why did you do such a foolish thing, Sayo?"_

"_Not even you can protect the clan's reputation from him. He is the Hokage. And the Senju clan had never liked us in the first place. If this is the only way to protect the clan…then…" Sayo breathed heavily. "But later…I can't bring myself to face you after…" Sayo coughed harshly. "I'm sorry, Madara. If death is the only way for me to cleanse my sins, then…" _

_Madara was taken aback as Sayo pulled herself up with her last remaining strength and kissed him gently on the lips. "Sorry…looks like…I won't be able to fulfil my promise to you. Looks like I have to leave you alone after all." Sayo coughed harshly. "I'll be waiting for you…on the other side…with Seina and Izuna." She smiled at him weakly, and Madara even felt tears brimming around his own eyes. "You…are the only one whom I will ever love. The only thing that I had never regretted in this life…is becoming your wife." She whispered. "Goodbye…Madara."_

**XXXXXX**

_Ten Months Later  
__Konoha Hospital_

"Sakura-sempai?" The smiling face of a nearly thirteen-year-old Nishimura Rin poked her head into Sakura's office who had been promoted to the position of the head of the Accident and Emergency department of the hospital by Tsunade, who had been the head of the hospital. Her apprentice, Katou Shizune, and also her husband's niece, had been promoted to the position of head of surgery.

Rin then blinked and nearly blanched when she saw the sight in front of her.

"R-Rin? What are you doing here? Ah, wait! This isn't what it looks like!" Hanesawa (formerly Haruno) Sakura squeaked.

Hatake Sakumo was extremely embarrassed as well. After all, he had just been caught making out with a medic in her office by said medic's student, as Rin had been taken on by Sakura as an apprentice after the war when Rin had all but begged Sakura to be her apprentice.

"Ah… Well, I can see that you're busy, so I'll just come back later…" Rin muttered, a blush on her face.

"NO! What is it, Rin?" Sakura squeaked, trying to make herself presentable.

Rin blinked before remembering just what she had came here for. "Ah! Hokage-sama is asking for you. Sakumo-sama, you too. Kakashi-kun had gone to get Hibiki-sempai and Kaiga-sempai, along with Dan-sama."

Sakumo blinked. "Neji-kun and Shikamaru-kun? As well as Dan?" he enquired, exchanging confused looks with Sakura. It must be something major if the Hokage is getting the top brass of Konoha's ninjas ranks together, despite their young ages.

Shikamaru is Konoha's head tactician, with Neji being the next in line for Oinin commander. Sakura is one of Konoha's top medics, and Sakumo is actually one of the top jounins, being the second-in-command of the jounin forces.

"Hai," said Rin with a nod. "He said to hurry."

**XXXXXX**

Two hours later, Sakura felt like her head is spinning after the Third Hokage had explained everything to her. Namikaze Minato had been named the Fourth Hokage straight after the Third Great Shinobi War had ended over a year ago, and everyone in the village knew that he had married Uzumaki Kushina, a kunoichi from the Whirlpool Country that Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru knew was Sayo's mother.

The Third Hokage had explained that during the first days of Konoha's founding, whilst Senju Hashirama had distributed the bijuus out to the other nations as a form of peace, he had kept the strongest tailed beast – the Kyuubi for Konoha. But after Konoha's seals mistress – Uchiha Sayo, had deserted the village, there is no one with her skill available to reinforce the seals holding the Kyuubi in place, and thus, Senju nee Uzumaki Mito had no choice but to seal the Kyuubi in herself.

But when she had neared the end of her life nearly fifteen years ago, Uzumaki Kushina was then brought to Konoha to be the next vessel for the Kyuubi. But now with Kushina heavily pregnant and near her delivery day, there are some complications, as the seal on the Kyuubi is heavily weakened when a female Jinchuuriki is giving birth to their child. This also explains the presences of Konoha's top ninjas in the house of Namikaze Minato and Namikaze Kushina, as Sarutobi Hizuren went over the plan for that night.

"Dan is getting everything ready for the birth tonight." Minato supplied, and Hizuren nodded.

"Sakura will be here as the medic, as Tsunade is otherwise unavailable today. There is an emergency surgery at the hospital, and both she and Shizune are tied up there." Hizuren stated, and Sakura nodded. "Shikamaru-kun and Neji-kun have some knowledge about seals, and thus, they will be assisting us as well. The Oinin commander, Taji, and my wife Biwako will go with you as well." He looked at Kushina. "Everything will be kept top secret."

"Hey, Sakura." Kushina leaned in close to Sakura who was nearly taken aback by that action. She had been the medic that had been overseeing all of Kushina's check-ups at the hospital, and had become close friends with her as a result. "Does it really hurt as much as they say it does?"

Sakura raised a brow. Kushina kind of reminds her of Sayo when she is a kid…

"Well…"

**

* * *

**

"Wahhhhhh! It huuuuuuuuurts!"

Sakura nearly winced at that loud volume, as she is assisting Biwako with the birth as Kushina is screaming her lungs out. Minato, the pale faced Yondaime Hokage is currently trying to keep the seal stable with Neji and Shikamaru's assistance.

"Um…I've never seen her cry out in pain like that before. Do you…really think that she'll be okay?"

"Of course!" Biwako huffed. "Just keep an eye on the Kyuubi's seal, will you?"

"But…"

"Oh please! You are the Yondaime Hokage!" Sakura huffed. "Don't just gape at me like that! This much pain would kill a man! But women are strong!"

Kushina's screams only increased in velocity and volume just then, and Shikamaru grunted as he focused chakra in the seal on Kushina's exposed belly. For the hundredth time, he thanked Sayo over and over again in his mind for convincing him to take seal studies alongside her. Neji knew about seals because of the fact that he wanted to find a way to remove the Branch seal from his forehead.

"Minato-san, the seal! Keep an eye on the seal!" Neji snapped at Minato who snapped back to attention.

"H-Hai!"

"Damn, the Kyuubi is struggling to get free!" Shikamaru grunted.

Neji's head snapped towards the entrance of the cavern where they were in just then, frowning as he thought that he'd heard something. Taji had been standing guard outside with a few of the top oinins in case of trouble. Neji had always been a sensor type of ninja, and he is extremely sensitive to changes in chakra.

"Neji, what is it? Focus on the seal!" Shikamaru snapped.

"Ah…right!"

"I can see the head!" Sakura announced. "Just a little more, Kushina!"

A baby's cry then sounded in the air not even a few seconds later, and Kushina panted heavily. Minato then stopped his work on the seal, as the Yondaime Hokage had a goofy smile on his face as he watched Sakura cradle a baby with a tuft of red hair on her head, cleaning the baby up before bundling her into a blanket that Biwako had handed her.

"Congratulations, Minato-san, Kushina!" said Sakura with a smile. "It's a healthy baby girl!"

"Haha!" Minato grinned. "I'm a father…!"

"Takara…" Kushina muttered, as Sakura handed her the baby. "I finally get to see you."

All those present missed the surprised looks that Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru exchanged upon hearing the baby's decided name. Shikamaru then grunted as he reinforced his own work on the seal. "Hey, Minato-san, don't be troublesome and help me out here!" he grunted. "The seal!"

"Ah, right!"

Neji stiffened just then and threw a kunai at the same exact moment where there was a grunt of pain and a thud of someone falling to the ground. "Who's there?" Neji demanded, standing in between Kushina and the intruder, readying a kunai.

Minato's eyes widened when he saw the two prone forms at the feet of the cloaked individual who was all covered up in a black hood from head to toe. "Biwako! Taji!"

"Shikamaru! Minato-san! Continue your work on the seal!" Sakura ordered before picking up the baby with one arm, with the other readying a kunai, standing by Neji's side. "Who are you? How did you slip past the barrier?"

"You call that a barrier?" The intruder questioned smugly. "Well, whatever. I'm here for the Kyuubi." He glanced towards Kushina, pulling out a long silver chain from within his pocket, and Minato's eyes narrowed when he spied a raven pendant hanging from the end of it, with the claws of the raven clutching onto a blood red gem. "Time to wake up, Kyuubi no Youko."

Kushina's screams intensified just then, and Shikamaru cursed to himself. "Shit, the seal!"

There was a sudden burst of chakra that nearly blew everyone over, and Sakura trembled when she felt that malicious chakra. It is just like that time when Sayo had nearly lost control of the Kyuubi when facing Orochimaru.

"Shit!" Minato cursed for the first time in his life. "The Kyuubi—!"

Kushina breathed and panted heavily, and Sakura was quick to go to her side to tend to her. Sakura had examined Sayo enough times in the past to know just how the seal on her works. Kushina's Jinchuuriki seal isn't as tight as Sayo's, and thus, she wouldn't die if the Kyuubi is ripped from her – something that Sakura doesn't know is a good or a bad thing. But for now, Sakura is glad for it, as it meant that she has a high chance of actually remaining _alive._

"Minato-san, go after the Kyuubi. Neji, you too. I'll look after Kushina with Shikamaru. We'll be right there with you as soon as we got Kushina stabilised." Sakura stated, her hands already glowing green with healing chakra.

Minato bit on his lip before nodding. "I'm leaving it to you."

**XXXXXX**

_Outskirts of Konoha  
__Fire Country_

Uchiha Sayo narrowed her eyes beneath the cloak that she is wearing, and her fists tightened by her sides. "Kyuubi…" she muttered. "Damn you to Hell, Hashirama. You and your organisation too, Hiore."

In the distance, the Kyuubi roared in fury.

**XXXXXX**

"Give me a break, Gai!" A very annoyed Hatake Kakashi turned and glared at his self-proclaimed rival, with Nishimura Rin giggling away next to him. He then stiffened and turned his attention towards the sky. "What the…? Hey, Rin, Gai. Do you guys feel something weird?"

"The air feels kind of cold…" Rin admitted, wrapping her arms around herself.

"What are you both talking about?"

**

* * *

**

"Hizuren-sama…" Hatake Sakumo spoke, having felt that ominous presence.

"This feeling… Did the seal break?" Dan wondered. "But Minato and Neji were there. And on top of it, Shikamaru was there as well. Did it break even with all three of them there?"

Hizuren frowned. "Dan, gather the forces. Get everyone who can fight out there."

Dan nodded. "On it!"

**XXXXXX**

"I won't let you do this here!" A very pissed Namikaze Minato declared, forming a seal with his fingers, standing atop the Hokage monument as he faced the Kyuubi.

"You are high on something if you think that a technique of that magnitude can do anything against the Kyuubi."

Minato turned sharply only to see the man from earlier. "You… Who are you? What is your motive?"

"My motive? Destroy Konoha." He declared.

"You…!"

"Stop." Minato and the hooded man turned only to see a hooded figure standing atop the head of the Fourth Hokage. When did she get there? She – Minato is sure that it's a she at least, raised her head, and Minato could only see the shadowed part of the lower half of her face. "You." She turned towards the hooded man. "Are you from Raven's Gate?"

The man stiffened. "If you knew about us, then you must be…"

"Saa. Who knows?" The girl said nonchalantly. She then glanced at Minato. "Can I leave you to deal with him? I'll handle the Kyuubi."

Minato nodded slowly. "O-Of course."

"Minato-san!"

All three heads turned towards the source of the voice only to see Sakura and Shikamaru running towards them at top speed. Beneath the cloak, Sayo narrowed her eyes upon the sight of those two. They seemed…familiar to her somehow.

"Who are you?" Sakura demanded upon catching sight of Sayo, readying a kunai.

"Wait! She's not an enemy!" Minato waved his hands.

Sayo snorted. "I'll leave you to it."

Sakura's eyes widened when she recognised that voice. "Wait!" she shouted, and Sayo stopped in her tracks. "That voice… Sayo? Is that you? Sayo?"

Sayo narrowed her eyes. Who is this girl? As the sound of the Kyuubi's roars reaches her ears, Sayo turned her attention back towards the fox demon. "I'll leave you to it."

**XXXXXX**

"…_Madara!"_

"…_I…disappeared from this world…as if withering at long last…"_

"…_I'm tired…"_

"…_the future…of the shinobi world… I'm entrusting it to you. I…wanted to believe in the future that you could bring… It's too bad…that I couldn't live to see it."_

"_I…want to see him…for the last time…"_

_Can you hear me? Won't you please wake up for me? Everyone's waiting. They need you. It's time to wake up. _

_Seina._

In a hospital room in Tsukigakure no sato, fingers twitched, and a pair of eyes blearily blinked opened.

"…where…is this?"

**XXXXXX**

Sayo tilted her head to one side as a strong chakra blast from the Kyuubi blew past her, amidst all the shouts from the Leaf ninjas currently throwing jutsu after jutsu at the gigantic fox demon.

"Dear me…" Sayo muttered. "Your power is strong. But looks like it's true that without a vessel, your true power can't be truly unleashed." The redhead glanced at the fox demon. "Time to go home, Kyuubi." She then formed a series of long and unfamiliar handseals. "Fuuinjutsu: Time Space Warp, Gate of Hell!"

**

* * *

**

"What…is that?" Shikamaru stuttered, staring with wide eyes at the gigantic black gates that had appeared from out of nowhere, with a pair of skeletons adorning the gates. "The gates of Hell?"

The hooded person whom they were all fighting narrowed his eyes. "She really is… So she's still alive. She's the only person who I could think of that can use seals to this level."

"Who is she?" Minato demanded.

"I have no obligations to answer you, Yellow Flash," said the man. "In fact, before I go, I'll give you a hint as to her identity. She is the person who had developed seal studies to the level it now is." He then leapt out of the way of Neji's strike. "Fear not, we'll see each other again." Then, he was gone.

"First…person who had developed seal studies to how it now is?" Minato frowned. His eyes then widened. "Uchiha…Sayo?"

Sakura and Neji exchanged worried looks.

**

* * *

**

Sayo winced as the chains dragged the Kyuubi into the gates, roaring, before the gates then slammed shut and disappeared. The redhead nearly fell to her knees at that. A fuuinjutsu of this level takes a lot out of her, especially if she is banishing the king of the demons straight to Hell itself.

It had taken her nearly ten years to complete this technique after all, as an effort to deal with the bijuus who should never have been allowed to exist in this world. Not for the first time, Sayo cursed Senju Hashirama inwardly.

"Damn… It sure is difficult to deal with that fox…" Sayo muttered, panting heavily as the cheers from the Leaf-nins went up all around her. "But if the fox is this strong, then I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're that difficult to deal with after all. After all, if your _mother_ is this powerful, then you shouldn't be any different." Sayo opened a portal to return to Tsuki. "Isn't that right, _Hiore?"_

**XXXXXX**

_Tsukikage's Office  
__Tsukigakure no sato_

"I see…" said Madara with a sigh in his office, fingers curled before his mouth. "I guess it's a good thing after all that you went there to take a look. Who knows what would have happened if the Kyuubi is allowed to go on a rampage?"

"But looks like Raven's Gate is making their move at last," said Sayo seriously. "About damn time. They've stayed dormant for more than fifty years after all."

Madara sighed before getting up from behind his desk. "Well, we'll worry about it when the time comes," he said. He then turned serious. "Sayo, the medics told me some things earlier when you were out." Sayo raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Seina has woken up." He stated.

Sayo's eyes widened in shock.

"…what?"

* * *

**Upcoming Stories: **

_**Death's Second Chance**__** (Naruto)**_

_Fate sure loves fucking with one Namikaze Riiyu, it seems like. She doesn't even know if she should hate herself or Kami for sending her back through time into the body of an Uchiha girl, sent to guide Uchiha Sasuke off the path of darkness and to stop the war from ever occurring. Genma/FemNaru_


	20. Search for Repentance

All right, question and answer time! I think there has been some misunderstanding regarding Sakura and co. First, Sakura _isn't _a seals master. She is a _medic, _which is the sole reason alone why she is involved with the birth in the first place. The only seals master among the trio is Shikamaru who had been dragged into learning under Jiraiya with Sayo before his death. Neji _isn't _a seals master, but he _had _moderate knowledge in seals thanks to his Bird Caged Seal. Does that answer your question?

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Search for Repentance**

_Rehabilitation Room  
__Tsukigakure no sato_

"Damn." Uchiha Seina cursed to herself – in fact, the first word that she had probably spoken in about fifty years, as she tripped and fell to the ground once more for what seemed like the fiftieth time for the past hour.

A sheet of sweat had been covering her entire body by now, as she gritted her teeth and grasped the bars to pull herself up – a kind of tool that helps a person to relearn how to walk again.

Seina stumbled over a little as she placed both feet on the carpeted ground once more, happy with herself that she didn't fall over _again. _But what minuscule happiness that Seina could've had only lasted a mere moment. When she took another step forwards shakily, this moment ceased to exist.

Seina fell like a couple of dominoes, this time bumping her head against the bars as she went down. Seina let out every single curse that she knew, and maybe a few that she had made up on the spot, as she rubbed the bump on her head, and attempted to get up again.

Meanwhile, outside the rehabilitation room which had a one-way mirror to allow those outside to look into the room, but not vice-versa, Uchiha Sayo watched all of this occur in despair. When Seina had first begun her rehabilitation training, she had offered to help Seina with the process, but was turned down time and time again, not that Sayo was surprised. Seina had always been very stubborn, just like nearly all Uchihas, and she hated admitting that she needs help with anything.

Furthermore, Seina is probably still trying to process everything that Madara and Sayo have told her nearly two weeks ago – about everything that have happened ever since her coma, and the fact that she has been in a deep coma for nearly fifty or so years.

The only thing that Seina had allowed Sayo to help her with is when Sayo had offered to help her cut her hair so that it now just fell a little below her shoulder blades. Sayo and Madara have then both started bringing Seina some solid food to get her strength back up so that she will be at least strong enough to attempt rehabilitation.

But even Sayo couldn't deny that something had changed with their once strong friendship. And she isn't surprised. Seina has been in a coma for over fifty years, whilst from her own point of view, it has only bee a few days since her battle with Senju Hashirama. Then she suddenly woke up only to find out that over fifty years have passed since that day, and that nearly everyone that she knew is already dead. Even her son and husband have both passed away. And she also woke up only to find out that everything that the Uchiha clan and she have fought for had all came to naught when the clan had willingly submitted themselves under the rule of their most hated enemy and rival – the Senju clan. She woke up only to find that the world has changed tremendously from when she had last remembered it, and for some strange unexplained reason, she found that she can't truly die of old age now.

Sayo knew Seina well enough to know that she had best leave her alone for a few days to let her get her bearings back, and for her to sort her own thoughts out by herself. Finally, as she watched Seina fell down again, Sayo couldn't stand by and watch this anymore. She quickly strode towards the door of the rehabilitation room and opened it, walking towards Seina just as she is attempting to pull herself up. Sayo then grabbed Seina by the arm, and pulled her to her feet.

Seina grabbed hold of the bars and glanced at Sayo before looking away once again. "I said that I don't need any help!" she snapped. "I'm not that weak to actually need your help to _walk!" _

Sayo blinked as she heard and recognised the emotions in Seina's voice as embarrassment and fury as well as frustration. Embarrassment that she couldn't even do something as simple as _walk. _Fury and frustration over the fact that so many things have changed from when she had last remembered it.

Sayo was silent for several moments before looking at Seina. Before the latter can attempt to walk again, Sayo grabbed Seina by her shoulder, and forcibly turned her around, making sure to grab her arm so that she wouldn't fall over again. Seina was surprised when she turned to look straight into Sayo's eyes. She had never seen such an expression in Sayo's eyes before. Not even when several bodies of their clan members were brought back during a particular fierce battle with the Senju clan had Sayo had such a look on her face.

She is a ninja as well, just like Seina herself, Izuna and Madara. Just like everyone in the clan. When she had chosen to be a ninja, she had long accepted the fact that deaths and sacrifices are something that is bound to happen in their line of work. That is why Seina had chosen to be a medic-nin in the first place, and why Sayo had chosen to be a tactician.

The simple fact alone that they have both seen and witnessed for themselves the sacrifices of so many lives, both comrade and enemy. Humans are cruel, that is true. But ninjas can be even crueller. And as tactician and medic, both Sayo and Seina knew this most of all. Human nature only proves that people can only realise the true value of what is most precious to them when they've lost it. Sayo can't speak for Seina, but that is the reason why she had chosen to be a tactician. It is simply that small simple desire to prevent more loss of life.

Sayo's eyes were both furious and saddened as she looked at Seina, having the eyes of someone who had seen several wars and battles, and had taken as many lives as many as she had saved.

"Damn it, Seina, just listen to me!" Sayo snapped, and this took Seina aback. This is the first time that she had seen or even heard Sayo cursing or even coming close to losing both her patience and temper. Of the four of them, Sayo is the most patient of their lot. She has to be – she is a tactician after all, and to be a tactician means lots of waiting as their enemy makes their move before she makes her next move. "Look, I can't say that I understand what you're going through now, as I still had Madara with me, and I've actually seen how the world had changed with my own eyes. But I'll be damned if I lose you too. I didn't wait for over fifty years for you to awaken only for you to immediately kick the bucket immediately after doing so!" Sayo said harshly. "I promised Izuna that I'd protect you. I couldn't save him. But the least that I could do is to make sure that you live at least!"

There was a very long silence after that, and Seina turned her head away. "If this is what I had to face after waking up, I wished that I had never woken up," she muttered. "It would have been better if you had just killed me whilst I'm still asleep. At the very least, I can at least see Izuna and Haru again where I'm going."

"That thought crossed my mind before." Sayo stated, and Seina turned back to face her. "But later, I decided that I can't do it. I want you to see with your own eyes just how much the shinobi world has changed. I want you to see with your own eyes just how much your son had done for the clan, and how much it had flourished since then. I want you to see with your own eyes this world that isn't wrecked with battles and wars eternally any longer. But more than anything, I want to see you open your eyes again and continue living, no matter how hard it is. That is the Seina that I knew!" Sayo loosened her grip on Seina's shoulder. "You can hate me. You can hate Madara. I wouldn't blame you for it. We are partially to blame for Izuna's death after all. But I can't let you hate yourself or even let you give up on yourself! Too many lives have been lost. I can't let you become another one."

Seina was silent for a long time. "…I'm sorry," she said at last. "It's just… The world that I woke up in is different from the one that I went to sleep in. I might as well be just dreaming for all I know. I…"

"I know," said Sayo with a sigh. "But at least get your strength back. We're going to need your help to deal with Raven's Gate."

Seina stared. "Raven's Gate?"

Sayo slapped her forehead inwardly. She had forgotten that Seina is already in a coma when those guys have attacked back then. She wouldn't know who they are. The redhead then sighed, preparing herself for a long story.

'_This is going to take awhile…'_

**

* * *

**

After the brief 'talk' with Seina, Sayo then walked down the hallways of the hospital, taking a route that she is quite familiar with by now, her mind too preoccupied with thoughts of Seina to even acknowledge the bows of respect that the passing doctors, nurses and medics were giving to the wife of their village leader.

Finally, Sayo's feet took her into the restricted section of the hospital where only the most serious emergency cases were referred to, or even the care for enemies. Two members of MOON – the equivalent of the ANBU in Konoha were standing guard at the entrance, and they both nodded to Sayo respectfully as she strode in.

The restricted section was extremely silent, and only the most skilled of doctors and medic-nins were allowed entry in, due to the sensitivity of some cases. Finally, Sayo stood before a cream coloured door with the silver plaque on it with the red words '609' inscribed across it, and pushed the door opened, entering the room.

One doctor and one medic-nin were both present in the room, alongside a nurse who was writing something in a clipboard – standard procedure for every patient in the restricted section of the hospital. All three looked up as Sayo entered, and they bowed respectfully to her.

"Sayo-sama." The doctor greeted as he examined the slumbering patient currently on the bed, with bandages covering half of his body, along with bandages concealing the right side of his face – in a fashion similar to Danzo after he had lost his eye in a battle during his youth.

"How is it going?" Sayo asked.

"Well, the seal that you've placed on him to keep him unconscious for the past six months or so had been working so far," said the medic-nin, glancing up at Sayo even as her hand glowed with green healing chakra. "It is going to take a long process to reset and re-grow all the crushed bones on his right side, and an even longer process to reconstruct his missing right eye from the structure and DNA that we've taken from his left eye."

Sayo sighed. "I really have to thank Shin for this," she muttered beneath her breath. "If he hadn't been passing through the forest, and sensed the faint lingering chakra in that collapsed cave, this boy would have died even without anyone realising that he's still alive in there."

"Our medical knowledge in Tsuki are considerably more advanced than anywhere else, thanks to Sayo-sama," said the nurse. "We can probably take the seal off him in another year or so once all his bones are back to normal, and his eye had completely re-grown itself."

Sayo nodded silently, not taking her eyes off of the slumbering twelve-year-old asleep on the bed, with bandages covering the entire right side of his body and face. If it were any other village, this boy would have already died before the first day. Similar to Konoha, Tsuki uses seals in most of their emergency treatments, though theirs are more advanced, as Sayo is always adding more methods and ways to their medical registry and books, and Madara had also placed it as a regulation that all medical personnel are to attend lectures and training sessions every three months to brush up on their skills.

Even Senju Tsunade who had now gained quite a reputation for herself as the world's foremost medical specialist would probably drool at all the medical facilities, methods and treatments that they have in Tsuki. And it also helps that a great number of medical herbs and plants grew in Tsuki no kuni. Several of the other villages often did trading or purchasing of those herbs and plants from them, though Madara controlled that aspect quite strictly so as not to damage the ecosystem.

Sayo barely noticed when the three in the room with her excused themselves politely, stating that they have other patients to see. The redhead walked nearer to the bed until she is standing on the side of the bed, studying the slumbering child's face. He looked so innocent and so relaxed in this vulnerable state, and Sayo's lips twitched slightly as he kind of reminded her of Madara when he is asleep.

"You sure had the devil's luck in you." Sayo muttered. "If Shin hadn't been passing by, no one would have realised that you are in there, and that you could still have been saved. But never did I expect that Shin would have saved another Uchiha." Sayo then smiled and walked towards the door, ready to head out on her next mission to the now destroyed land of Ice in search of a rare ice flower that is said to have amazing healing properties. "I would love to hear everything about the Uchiha clan from you once you've woken up, Uchiha Obito."

**XXXXXX**

_ANBU Roots' Headquarters  
__Konohagakure no sato_

Shimura Danzo had always prided himself on his emotional self-control.

That had been the first thing that his teacher had drilled into his head; that no matter what he is feeling, he must never wear his emotions on his sleeve. That is one of the reasons why Sarutobi and his two other teammates have never won against him in poker even once during their youth.

But right now, Danzo found his ever eternal composure cracking as he stared at his 'kouhai' with a look on his face like Orochimaru had just grown two new heads.

Danzo groaned to himself, palming his face, and Orochimaru grinned sheepishly, scratching at his cheek with one finger idly. "I must say that you're either crazy or you had just gone nuts, or maybe even both." Danzo stated bluntly. "Orochimaru, I understand that you miss Sayo-sensei, and wanted to see her again, given the fact that she had practically raised you before I had taken over for her. But you don't have to pass yourself off as a missing-nin just to locate sensei!"

Orochimaru's face turned solemn at that. "Shimura-sempai, you and I both know that practically the ENTIRE village, sans for the Uchiha clan and perhaps Jiraiya believed that Sayo-sensei and Madara-sama are traitors. High profile ones, given the fact that they've killed the Shodaime himself. If I tell Sarutobi-sensei that I wanted to look for one of the two most notorious 'traitors' in Leaf history, do you honestly think that he'll let me go? And even if I said nothing about it, he'll find it suspicious why I suddenly wished to leave the village when I rarely leave sans for missions, that is. I much preferred spending time in my lab than leaving the village."

There was a long silence before Danzo sighed. "I can't make you change your mind, can I?" he stated more than questioned, and Orochimaru shook his head. "It is true that I have lots of ways to make you out to be a notorious missing-nin, but do you realise just how many people that you'll hurt by doing this? Anko-chan, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Hizuren. And maybe even Itachi-kun."

"Something just doesn't feel right to me." Orochimaru admitted. "Sensei's appearance back then at the camp during the war. Then nearly two months ago during the Kyuubi attack. I don't know all the details, but Jiraiya told me what Minato had told _him. _He said that a strange man released the Kyuubi from Kushina, and if it weren't for the high medic skill of Hanesawa as well as the sealing ability of Kaiga, Kushina would have been dead! Then that strange nin who had forced the Kyuubi back to Hell by whatever unknown method that he or she had used. That person had probably saved lots of lives that night, maybe even Konoha itself. I am worried. Something is afoot."

Danzo was silent for a long time before he sighed. "I understand," he said at last. "I'll fulfil your request. But Sayo-sensei wouldn't be happy. She told me to look after you. And you hadn't seen her when she is angry, Orochimaru."

"Well, then that's just too bad for her."

**XXXXXX**

_Unknown Location  
__Kori no kuni_

"This is it…" Sayo muttered to herself as she bent down and carefully dug around the snow covered ground around the flower that she is searching for, placing it in a special chakra enforced container that she had brought with her so that the flower doesn't wilt.

The land of Ice had been destroyed some thirty or forty years back during the First Great Ninja War, and there have been several rumours about this place ever since. But what most people didn't know is that the land of Ice is a goldmine for rare minerals and even rare flowers that held amazing healing properties. And it is a rare flower with healing properties that Sayo is in search of now, hoping to study it carefully and see if the properties of this flower can help Seina and Obito in any way. And if it is even possible to reproduce this flower in Tsuki no kuni.

Sayo then pushed the coat sleeve of her left forearm upwards, revealing several strange looking black seals that looked rather like tattoos in the forms of swirls, lines and even patterns. Each 'line' or 'pattern' is actually a representation of a single seal. Among those seals are storage seals; even fuuin jutsu for some of her favourite techniques so that she doesn't have to form the handseals to perform that jutsu; and even summon seals for her summon wolves.

With a sigh, Sayo focused some chakra onto an 'empty' storage seal, and with a 'poof', the container that contains the ice flower vanished. Sayo then straightened herself up. "Well, let's go home," she muttered.

But before the redhead could even open up a portal to transport herself back to Tsuki, her eyes widened and she spun around towards the direction where she could see several snow mountains, and by the looks of things, a blizzard is also starting to pick up. She could sense a faint chakra signature in that direction, and while Sayo would usually ignore such a thing, she didn't this time as she recognised that chakra signature.

"Orochimaru?"

**XXXXXX**

Orochimaru shivered violently as a particularly violent wind blew past him, wrapping his arms around his torso to try to keep warm, to no avail. All he had on is his jounin uniform which is more suited for a warm climate like Fire Country, _not _a freaking cold climate like the land of Ice that seems as if a blizzard is about to rain down on his head soon!

The snake summoner had no idea how he had even gotten here in the first place as well. Danzo had done his job a little too thoroughly, and he had ended up getting chased by nearly half the population of ANBUs and jounins in the village, with his best friend and teammate in their midst, before he utilised his shunshin no jutsu, adding as much chakra into it as possible, trying to take himself out of Fire Country, and the next thing that he knew is that he had ended up in the land of Ice.

His muscles are starting to lose their feeling, and Orochimaru could barely feel his nose or even his ears – a bad sign, as that probably meant that he is slowly developing frostbite.

"…so cold…" Orochimaru slurred, wrapping his arms around his torso, but to no avail. "…so cold… Sensei…" A faint image of a smiling redhead appeared in his mind, stretching her hand out to him – just like the time when he had first followed her when his village was destroyed by bandits. "…Sayo-sensei… Where are you? I want to see you… Sensei…" Orochimaru almost sounded like the scared little boy that he had been when Sayo had first brought him to the Leaf village. The snake summoner then fell face-first onto the snow-covered ground, his legs numbing out. "…Sensei…"

As darkness slowly overtakes his mind, Orochimaru could have sworn that he heard a faint crunching sound of snow beneath boots…

**

* * *

**

Orochimaru awakened again to a feeling of warmth and bliss, and for a moment, he wondered why until he realised that at least three thick blankets were covering his frame, and the faint cackle of flames reaches his ears. He then opened his eyes blearily only to see the ceiling of what seemed like a cave, with shadows dancing on the ceiling and walls.

"You're finally up," said a voice, and Orochimaru turned only to see a redhead that he is fairly familiar with sitting atop an overturned crate, poking at the fire in front of her with a stick, several roasted fishes and birds roasting over the fire. "You gave me quite a scare when I found you. I thought that I would be too late. Frostbite had literally set in every inch of your body, and it took me over three hours to thaw you out. And what the hell do you think that you are doing, coming into the land of Ice with such thin clothing on? Eh, Orochimaru?" Uchiha Sayo glanced at Orochimaru disapprovingly. "I didn't teach you to be so reckless. Shinobis are devious. Shinobis are cunning. And shinobis are subtle. Kindly explain to me just how such reckless actions are wise?"

Orochimaru stared at Sayo for a long time without speaking as he sat up, uncomfortably realising the fact that he only had on a pair of pants and nothing else, his clothes hanging over a makeshift clothesline above his head. "S-Sensei?"

Sayo smiled gently at Orochimaru. "It's been a long time, Orochimaru," she said. "And you're as reckless as ever. Though you've grown. I've been hearing your name mentioned in various places." She then got up and squatted down in front of Orochimaru, placing one head on the top of his head and looking him in the eye like how she always had when he was a kid. "But like always, you're such a cry-baby." She muttered, wiping away the tears pooling around his eyes with her thumb. "It looks cute when you're a cute brat, but kind of weird now that you're a grown-up, Orochimaru. Stop crying. Ninjas don't cry at the slightest thing."

Orochimaru smiled weakly at Sayo. "As always, sensei is as harsh as always," he muttered. "I had never believed that you're dead. But sensei, why did you leave?"

Sayo flinched before she closed her eyes and opening them again. "Well, we have our reasons," she said at last. She then looked at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, will you hear me out? I need your help with something."

**XXXXXX**

_ANBU Roots' Headquarters  
__Konohagakure no sato_

Shimura Danzo is slowly dozing off in his chair as he looked through the reports of the new recruits for Roots when a light tapping at his window caused him to jerk awake with a light start. The Roots' commander then turned towards his window only to see an eagle tapping at the window with its beak, a scroll tied to the tube around its right leg.

"Huh? A message?" Danzo frowned as he got up and let the eagle in, untying the scroll from its leg before watching the eagle flew off. "Doesn't seem to be Konoha's. We use pigeons for bird messengers, not eagles."

Danzo then shrugged slightly before checking the scroll carefully for any booby traps and whatnot. He is the Roots' commander after all, not everyone wanted him to live to a ripe old age. Finally, Danzo opened the scroll when it doesn't seem to have any traps, and his eyes widened slightly when he recognised that elegant handwriting immediately.

'_Danzo,_

_Looks like I've taught you a __**little **__too well. You actually succeed in making Orochimaru out to be a missing-nin of the highest order so that no one would be able to guess that he had gone searching for Madara and me._

_Don't worry, he's with me now. Though I'll be asking him to do a little job for me. I won't tell you where we are right now as there is no telling if this letter will fall in the wrong hands. But first things first, Orochimaru told me everything that had happened ever since I've left the village._

_I'm proud of you, Danzo. You did everything that you could to protect the village and the people within, even nearly crippling yourself when doing so. Never believe what others would say, as long as you yourself knew that your conscience is clear, and that you've done nothing to make others believe otherwise._

_From the start, ANBU Roots is an underground organisation of Konoha to deal with all the messiest and darkest missions that would never see the light of day. Do not care what the council would say otherwise. Even they must know that Konoha needs the continued existence of Roots._

_Onto more important matters: a storm is coming, Danzo. Be prepared for it. Watch over the Uchiha clan as well. I've been hearing disturbing news and rumours about them from both Orochimaru and the outside. And with the Kyuubi attack, the council is sure to be suspicious of them, since the last known person who can control the bijuus apart from Senju Hashirama is Madara._

_Destroy this letter once you've finished reading it, and take care of yourself._

_-Sayo'_

_

* * *

_

_A/N: Next chapter: the Uchiha massacre! And about Seina, yes, I know that I've made her a little too angsty, but do put yourself in her shoes. She woke up only to find out that over fifty years had passed. Her husband and son are both dead, as is nearly everyone that she knew. The world that she knew has changed tremendously. And she can't even do the most basic things like walk. Yeah, if I'm her, I'll also probably snap._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_


	21. Itachi's Dilemma

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One: Itachi's Dilemma**

_Konohagakure no sato  
__Fire Country_

Namikaze Minato, Kaiga (Nara) Shikamaru, Hibiki (Hyuuga) Neji as well as Katou Dan, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Chouza and Yamanaka Inoichi were all very confused.

It had been nearly a year ever since the Kyuubi attack, and the rebuilding of the village is nearly done. The Fourth Hokage is curious about the person who had just about saved the entire village and the lives of his wife and child that night, and he didn't exactly make it a secret that he wanted to meet him or her, and to thank them.

The reason why the six jounins and one Hokage were confused is because of the fact that the famous White Fang of Konoha is currently fretting over something unknown, and running his fingers through his silver hair so many times for the past hour that it had all but stood up from his head. The White Fang of Konoha had been one of Konoha's best, being one of Minato's right hand men, with the other being Katou Dan who is the head of the jounin forces, with Sakumo having been promoted to the position of ANBU commander after the previous commander had perished during the Kyuubi attack, and he also happened to be one of Minato's close friends, despite the fact that he is at least three to four years older than the man himself.

After the Kyuubi attack, several ninjas have found themselves promoted hastily to fill in the empty positions left behind by their predecessors who have either passed away during the attack, or were simply too injured to continue as a ninja.

With the death of the Oinin commander, Taji, Neji had been selected to fill the post, with Shikamaru being Konoha's head tactician, and Sakura being one of the top medics at the hospital.

"This is troublesome…" Shikaku almost groaned, nursing a cup of sake. "Alright, what's wrong, Sakumo-san? I've never seen you so stressed out before. Hanesawa dumped you or something?"

Neji almost snorted in his cup of sake, turning unseen eyes towards the head of the encryption unit of Konoha, who, like nearly everyone in Konoha, felt unnerved at having Neji face him with seemingly seeing eyes, despite the bandage around his eyes. "Unlikely, seeing as how Sakumo-san is the only guy that Sakura had gone out with the longest. And she simply couldn't stop talking about him whenever Shikamaru and I met up with her."

"Okay…so she's not dumping you then." Chouza muttered before glancing over at the stressed out White Fang. "So what's the problem here?"

Sakumo muttered something beneath his breath.

"Pardon?"

"The engagement ring." Sakumo finally spoke in a loud enough voice for all the surrounding jounins to hear him. "I have completely no idea what women's tastes are for things like rings. With Noriko, it is easy, as she is a civilian, and the owner of the shop helped me with the ring selection then. But Sakura is a ninja, and well…"

"Hold on, Sakumo." Dan held out one hand, stopping him in mid-rant, a puzzled look on the man's face. "What ring?"

"An engagement ring." Sakumo muttered, missing the fact that two certain ninjas happened to be passing by the sake stand that they were all at. "I'm going to ask Sakura to marry me this autumn."

Inoichi's face broke out into a grin. "Way to go, Sakumo-san!" he chirped, slapping Sakumo on the back. "About damn time, I think! I know that Sakura-san has been waiting for you to pop the question, and I know for a fact that Yoshino, Yurika and Airi were just on the verge of introducing you to a crash course on Kunoichi Interrogation 101 if you don't pop your question soon."

Anything that Sakumo wanted to say was cut off as a shout of "Kakashi!" rang through the air, and all the jounins turned only to see a panicked Nishimura Rin shouting after the departing back of her silver haired teammate who had ran off faster than anyone thought that they would ever see a kid his age move, never mind his rank.

Sakumo half got up from his seat, knowing that his son had never liked the fact that he is seeing the pink haired medic who is the head of the A&E department of the hospital. His relationship with Sakura aside, probably the fact that Sakura had been team Minato's psychiatrist after the death of Uchiha Obito has to do with that as well.

Minato placed one hand on his shoulder just then, preventing him from getting up. "I'll talk to him. You stay here."

The Fourth Hokage was then gone in a flash of yellow. He had a distraught student to comfort and talk to.

**

* * *

**

Minato found Kakashi where he thought that he'd be – at the civilian graveyard of Konoha where his thirteen-year-old student was sitting before his mother's grave, speaking to her.

"—and then Dad came home last night, telling me that he intend to marry Sakura-san. I don't like it, and said so to Dad's face, and I thought that that is the end of the matter, but then—"

Minato sighed. So Kakashi is jealous of the fact that he had to share his father's love with his potential new stepmother? The Fourth Hokage knew Sakura personally, as she had been his wife's personal physician when she was still pregnant with his daughter, and she had also been the one that Tsunade had recommended to help with the birth that disastrous night when both the blonde medic and her dark haired apprentice have to both assist with a tricky case concerning chakra transfusion that night.

And even before that, Sakura had been his team's psychiatrist and medic after Obito's death. Rin had turned to the pink haired medic as a form of surrogate mother or sister, as her own family had died out on the frontlines against Iwa even when she was still in the Academy. After that, Sakura had taken Rin on as her apprentice, and Minato had seen for himself just how much Rin had improved in skill, and how much she had grown as a person, becoming more confident in herself.

"I hate to say this, Kakashi, but don't you think that you're being a little too selfish here?" Minato stated bluntly as he walked up to his student, his cape fluttering around his legs in the wind as he did so.

"Sensei." Kakashi muttered sullenly, turning away from his teacher. "And what do you mean by that? Hanesawa-san has no right to replace my mother! I won't accept her!"

Minato sighed. For once, he wished that Kushina is here with him, helping him with his stubborn student. Kushina could always manage to make Kakashi see things the way she wants to, though sometimes, she has to resort to a few smacks here and there.

"I don't think that Sakura has any intention to replace your mother," said Minato patiently. "No one can replace your mother, Kakashi. Noriko-san is Noriko-san. Sakura is Sakura. They are two different people. Besides, if it eases your mind any, I actually had to push Sakumo towards Sakura's direction when he tried to reject his own feelings about her. Sakura actually tried to hide from him after that for two weeks for some reason. But Neji and Shikamaru actually forced her to meet him. And then, well…" He gestured with his hands. "Things just happened from there. I think that Tsunade and Dan actually had some part to play with them both getting together after that."

"But…"

Minato knelt down to his student's eye level, glancing at the gravestone that he is sitting in front of before turning towards his student. "Kakashi, I had been around your age, maybe even a little younger when my own father had died," he said simply, and Kakashi turned to face his sensei. "I remembered how lonely my mother had been then. A few years later, just before I became a genin, she passed away due to loneliness." He sighed. "I remembered thinking that if maybe, just maybe, if my mother had only opened her heart and let someone else in, she wouldn't have died. My mother is quite a beauty, and plenty of men fell at her feet. But she refused to let anyone into her heart sans for my father. I miss my father, of course, and I also knew that no one could replace him. But I also know that I wouldn't have minded in the least if my mother did remarry. She deserves to be happy." Minato turned to face a guilty looking Kakashi. "The same way that Sakumo deserves to be with someone that he is happy with. Your mother has been dead for over a decade. I'm sure that Noriko-san wouldn't have minded even if your father remarries."

"But…"

Minato sighed. "Kakashi, Sakura wouldn't be replacing your mother," he said patiently. "Besides, you do know her personally. It's not like your father will be marrying a complete stranger. Sakura is your teammate's teacher, and also your medic and psychiatrist. You do know her well, don't you?"

"Well, yes." Kakashi mumbled.

"And is she a nice person? Someone whom you could see that your father will be happy with for the rest of his life?" Minato prompted.

"W-Well, yes." Kakashi reluctantly answered.

"Then what is the problem here then?" Minato asked with a raised brow. "Sakura wouldn't be replacing your mother. Besides, I think that you think of her more as a sister anyway, given the age differences. The love that your father had for you and her are different, so it's not like you will be sharing him." He shook his head. "Sakumo is still young, Kakashi, barely bordering on thirty. Do you really want him to spend his last years as a lonely old man? You will grow up, 'kashi. You won't always be there with him. You will have your own life to lead after that. Sakumo deserves to be happy, Kakashi, and I know that Sakura will make him happy. Do think about it. Besides, I think that Noriko-san will agree with me. Think about it."

Minato then left the graveyard, leaving Kakashi with a whole lot to think about, and a decision to make.

**XXXXXX**

_Eight Years Later  
__Uchiha Clan District_

"Are we all here?" Uchiha Fugaku asked, glancing around at all the faces of all the Uchiha ninjas in the clan, all assembled in the shrine area where they have always held their secret meetings.

Uchiha Shisui put up his hand, an apologetic look on his face. "Ano… Itachi isn't here, Fugaku-sama," he said hesitantly.

Whispers started to break out across the room at that. The clan heir not at this meeting called by the clan head for all Uchiha ninjas in the clan? Fugaku frowned from his place. Itachi had been acting very strangely for days now, and he seemed to be taking on as many missions as he could that might take him out of the village for days on end. In fact, Fugaku himself hadn't seen his elder son for nearly a week now.

"Let's just start without him," said Fugaku briskly, making a mental note to speak to his son the next time that he sees him. "I'm sure that all of you here agrees with me that we had just about enough of how the council and the village had been treating the Uchiha clan ever since Madara-sama and Sayo-sama's 'betrayal' of the village. I'll say that we should do something about that unjust treatment."

Shouts of agreement went up at that, and one of Fugaku's best detectives looked doubtful at that. "But Fugaku-sama, isn't the Fourth doing something about that?"

Fugaku looked weary at that. "Yes, but even Minato could do so much," he stated. "The Senju oriented councilors – particularly the civilian council and the Third's old teammates have blocked every notion that Minato had made regarding the Uchiha clan's treatment. They claimed that he is doing that just because I had been his teammate. And the only clan who backed his support in this is the Hyuuga, and that is because Hiashi had been my teammate as genin. And not to mention the fact that we definitely didn't make ourselves any friends, with our bloodline's abilities and all. And not to mention the fact that there have been rumours around the village of how only someone with a Sharingan could control the Kyuubi."

Similar looks of outrage appeared on the faces of nearly everyone present. "Fugaku-sama, are you saying that the village is saying that _we _the Uchiha clan who had served Konoha faithfully ever since the village's inception had set the Kyuubi upon Konoha nearly eight years ago?" One of Fugaku's cousins raged, fury on his face, and he even activated his Sharingan unconsciously.

Similar bursts of outrage burst out at that.

"How _dare _they?"

"They have no proof!"

"We would do no such thing!"

Uchiha Mikoto, Fugaku's wife frowned. "Does the entire council, sans for the Hokage and Hiashi-sama, believes that, and are against us?" she asked quietly.

The voices died down as every single pair of eyes went to Fugaku. The clan head coughed into his hand. "No. Danzo-sama had been backing the Fourth in his notions about the Uchiha clan, but you know of his rather 'shady' reputation among the council, and thus, his power in the council is minimal at best. He only has power and authority over the ANBU and the missions that our shinobis undertake. In other words, shinobi affairs."

Several of the clan members looked crestfallen at this. Even the person who had been helping them all along could do nothing about this?

Uchiha Shisui sighed, massaging his temples to ease his headache. "Back then, the clan should have listened to Madara-sama," he muttered. "Fugaku-sama, what are the reasons behind Madara-sama's wish to attack the Senju clan back then?"

Fugaku frowned. "I'm not too sure, as it wasn't specifically stated in clan records," he said. "But it is stated that the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama had done something against his wife. The clan head after Madara-sama, my own father, Uchiha Haruki took a much more aggressive stand against the Senju clan after that, and after the First had died. But it was stated that Madara-sama and Sayo-sama left not long after the dispute that Madara-sama had with the clan council at that time, and the First went after them both. You know what happened after that." Grim nods were exchanged. "The First died during that battle, and it is presumed that Madara-sama did as well. The only two who have witnessed the fight are the Nidaime and Madara-sama's wife, Sayo-sama."

Mikoto sighed. "Anyway, we will try just one more time to convince the council to return the Uchiha clan our rights and power in the council," she said briskly. "If it fails again…" She glanced at her husband uneasily. "If it fails, we will have no other choice but to launch a coup against the village."

Fugaku sighed. "If truth be told, I really don't wish for it to end up that way," he admitted. "But I don't want Sasuke to grow up the way that I did, the way that Itachi and all of you did as well – being suppressed and oppressed all the time. My father, Uchiha Haruki's era is an era otherwise known as the Uchiha clan's golden era, with the Nidaime's support. But after the death of my father, and then the handing of the Hokage seat over to the Third, the Uchiha clan was then forced into a position that we are now in. I don't want any of our descendants to grow up the way we did."

Silence fell after that. Finally, Uchiha Shisui put up his hand. "Fugaku-sama, a question if you please?" Fugaku nodded with a frown. "If we ever went through with this…coup, what of Itachi?" Shisui questioned with a frown. "He has been acting strangely of late."

Fugaku sighed. "I'll talk to Itachi," he said. "I'll make him see things our way. All of you are dismissed. Do not let anyone learn of this meeting."

His clan members nodded before leaving the room that they are in. Fugaku then frowned as he noticed one of the few kunoichis in the clan standing at the back sighing and placing two fingers at her forehead before disappearing in a quick shunshin.

'_Who is that?' _he wondered. _'I've never seen her before. And I don't even remember seeing an Uchiha kunoichi with red hair.'_

**XXXXXX**

_Uchiha Mansion  
__Tsukigakure no sato_

It was late at night, and most of the village was asleep sans for the few that were on guard duty at the sentry points of the village. One Uchiha Madara is also still awake, standing at the window in his bedroom, staring at the moon in the sky that gives their land its name of 'Tsuki no kuni.'

His senses pricked up just then, and he turned around only to see the signs of a shunshin taking place in the middle of the room, and his wife soon appeared there, a serious look on her face. Madara sighed. "Tell me what I need to know," he said briskly.

Sayo nodded. "I got a little worried about the rumours circulating around Konoha regarding the Uchiha clan and the Kyuubi attack, and coupled with what Orochimaru had told me…" she sighed. "Well, I snuck into Konoha myself, slipping into an Uchiha clan meeting. Apparently, the clan decided that they had enough. They're only going to attempt just one more time for the Leaf council to give them back their rights. If that fails, they're going to launch a coup on the village."

Madara said nothing for several moments. "A coup, huh?" he mused. "I thought that they might pull something like that sooner or later. Without Tobirama's support, the Senju orientated councilors have taken the chance to suppress the Uchiha clan."

Sayo sighed. "What are you going to do, Madara?" she asked, walking towards the window and looking out of it. "I mean, yes, we have four Uchihas here in Tsuki, with both Seina and Obito back to their own feet about six years ago. But we can't possibly house the entire Uchiha clan of over four hundred in Tsuki. Tsukigakure is one of the great six, after all. Four Uchihas in our village, we might be able to avoid the eyes of Konoha. But an entire clan of over four hundred disappearing from Konoha only to appear in Tsukigakure? Even _Konoha_ is smart enough to put the pieces together."

After Seina and Obito have recovered from their injuries, and were able to function properly as ninjas again, Sayo had insisted for them both to move in together with them, as they have plenty of rooms in their house anyway. And as anyone who knew Sayo could tell them, you _don't_ win an argument against Uchiha Sayo. As Seina and Obito are two of the few Uchihas who could function properly in battle without the usage of their Sharingan, they have been able to escape the radar of Konoha and the other villages so far. But if they took in an entire clan of four hundred… No way would it slip under Konoha's notice.

Madara sighed and nodded, agreeing with his wife. "I have no intention of helping the clan anyway," he said. "Konoha or not, the Uchiha clan still belongs to the Leaf village. Seina and Obito are both listed as KIA (killed-in-action), so it is all right for them."

Sayo nodded absently, barely noticing it as Madara came up behind her. She only noticed it when she felt Madara's tongue licking at the exposed skin on her neck, and as she turned around, Madara pinned her against the wall next to the window with his body, pressing his lips against hers, one hand tangling itself into her hair, the other hand resting against the back of her waist.

"That's true in a sense." Sayo gasped slightly as Madara nipped gently at the skin on her neck. "But the Uchiha clan is different. They are still citizens and ninjas of Fire Country, and they must follow the law set by the Lord, the daimyo. No one is above the law. By trying to overthrow the Hokage, they have overstepped their boundaries. _No one _is allowed to lay a hand on the Hokage _but _the commanders of the Oinin and the ANBU. This is the law that I've set down with the daimyo himself secretly back then with Konoha's founding." Sayo moaned slightly as she felt Madara's hand groping one of her breasts through the fabric of her clothes. "Madara…you're going a little fast."

Madara smirked as he began attacking Sayo's neck, his hands roaming all over her body as his mind worked furiously.

What Sayo had said is true in a way, as when Konoha and the ANBU were first founded, the first law that Sayo had laid down is a secret law known only to the commanders of the ANBU and the daimyo himself. If the Hokage of Konoha ever strays from the path of good and walked on the path of evil, and if the commanders of the Oinin and the ANBU felt that the Hokage is too gone to be saved, they are the ones with the responsibility to destroy that disease by assassinating the Hokage themselves. That is the secret law of the ANBU, known only to the daimyo and the commanders of the ANBU and the Oinin. Not even the Hokage himself will know of this law.

"If the council rejects the Uchiha clan's request, and I believe that they will, what do you think that they will do?" Madara asked, plunging his tongue into Sayo's mouth, with the redhead gasping at this sudden action. "What do you think that the village will do?" He muttered against her lips.

"You know the laws of Fire Country like the back of your hand. What they're attempting to do is pure treason in itself. What do you think will the Hokage do?" Sayo muttered before she gasped, as Madara plunged his tongue back in, one hand tangling itself into her hair, tugging her head backwards before exploring the cavern of her mouth with his tongue.

"Elimination of the clan." Madara muttered, drawing back from Sayo, his eyes glittering with lust as he looked upon his wife. "But as the village is still recovering from the Kyuubi attack eight years ago, they can't make this an official execution, or they'll probably risk civil war in the village itself. In that case, they'll probably make this out to be a horrible crime done by one of their own. Is that right?" he asked, looking at his wife whose eyes were half glazed over.

"Y-Yeah…" Sayo gasped as she felt Madara's hand slipping within her shirt and snaking up her body, further arousing her. "Politics passed." She muttered in his ear as she arched into Madara, her body moulding perfectly into him as she trailed her arms up around his neck, pulling herself slightly upwards. She shivered lightly as she felt Madara's touch on her body.

Madara then deepened his kisses as he pushed Sayo back against the wall, his powerful hands snaking down her sides as he pulled her closer to his body, bringing their hips in close intimate contact. Sayo's eyes fluttered close as she was rendered helpless by his touches.

"Who do you think will the council send as their executor?" Madara muttered huskily in her ear, even as he attacked her neck next. "Gods… You're as desirable and delicious as always."

Sayo would probably have fallen to the ground at this point if it weren't due to the fact that Madara is holding her up. This isn't the first time that they've engaged in acts of intimacy, but every single time that they engage in acts like that, Madara never fails to make Sayo feel like how she does.

"Who better to send than one of their own?" Sayo muttered before she gasped as Madara slowly began pulling the bottom of the navy blue jounin uniform that she had been wearing up her body. His eyes burned with an unknown passion as he eyed the porcelain-like skin that he could see there with lust in his eyes. "If that is so, then there is only one Uchiha that the council will trust with this dirty job and proclaim him as a criminal after this."

"Uchiha Itachi." Madara stated.

Sayo nodded before she gasped as Madara caressed the exposed skin that he could see. "Madara… Please…"

"Moan my name again…" Madara muttered huskily into Sayo's ear, licking at her earlobe as he did so, slipping one hand beneath Sayo's loose shirt and caressing the skin there. "I like it when you do that."

"You're…" Sayo gasped as Madara wedged one knee in between her legs, bringing his knee up and pushing against the area in between her legs. "You're sure passionate tonight." She moaned, as she couldn't even begin to describe the feelings overwhelming her at this moment. "Madara…"

Madara smirked at this before he sucked on the tender skin of Sayo's neck, his right hand sliding gently up her body beneath his shirt, feeling her light shiver beneath his touch, his hand resting against the fabric of her bra. He was slightly taken aback when he felt Sayo's arms snaking down his body and pressing against his chest. "Gods… Sayo, what are you trying to do to me?" He grunted, and Sayo gasped as one hand slipped within her bra without any warning, cool fingers pressing against her breast, his thumb circling around her nipple.

Sayo moaned as she rested her forehead against his shoulder even as Madara grunted at this action, one arm wrapped around her waist, slipping his other hand out from within her shirt and tugged at the collar of her jounin uniform gently, trying to get at more of her body. Finally, tired of trying and failing, Madara lifted Sayo into his arms effortlessly, bringing her over to their bed where he pinned her down, leaning over her with lust shining in his eyes.

"M-Madara…"

**{Lemon scene starts here! Don't read if you don't wish to! I will not be held responsible for any scarring left behind!}**

Madara grinned at her, his eyes glinting with lust. "Shall we start 'work' then?" he purred, his hands roaming all over Sayo's body, exploring every inch of it tenderly, loving the little noises that his wife gave out whilst beneath him.

"Madara…" Sayo gasped as her eyes fluttered close in helplessness as she felt Madara's hands roaming from her hips to her chest, as his hands found her breasts and began to fondle them before caressing them slowly, before slowly kneading them. "Oh Gods…" She moaned even as she felt a slight draft of wind as Madara unbuttoned the first button of her jounin uniform, exposing a decent amount of cleavage. She then gasped as Madara gave up on unbuttoning her shirt and slipped his hands within her shirt from the hem, kneading her breasts through the fabric of her bra.

"Madara…"

Madara smirked even as he leaned in closer to Sayo, flicking his tongue out and licking at the skin in between her breasts. "You're sure impatient tonight," he grunted, slipping his hands under her bra without any warning, squeezing her breasts gently. A light gasp and moan from Sayo pleased him, and the redhead began moving her body slowly in accordance to his.

Madara soon felt a pair of hands trailing around his waist and pushing the hem of his shirt up, pushing it as far as it could go. Getting the hint from his wife, Madara undid his cape with one hand, tossing it to the ground, before pulling his shirt over his head, tossing it to the ground as well. He then fumbled with the rest of his clothing before discarding them to the ground, turning back to his wife.

Madara then slipped off the pants that Sayo had been wearing, discarding it to the ground, before being followed by her panties. He then began to work at the buttons on Sayo's jounin uniform, finally managing to undo it all, and discarding it to the ground. Madara then bent down towards her neck and began to suck on it, feeling her breasts pushing against his bare chest. Not liking the feel of the fabric of the bra covering her breasts, Madara slipped one hand beneath Sayo's body and unclasped the article of clothing, throwing it to the ground to join the pile of discarded clothing there.

"Madara…" Sayo gasped as he inserted one finger into her entrance, slowing increasing the number of fingers as he did so, pumping her slowly. "Oh Gods…" She moaned. "Madara… Please…"

Madara chuckled as he positioned himself at her entrance. "Looks like I'm not the only one impatient tonight," he teased, pushing in and out of Sayo teasingly, yet never fully going into her.

He then kissed her on the lips passionately before drawing back. Without any warning, Madara then thrust himself hard into her. Sayo's eyes shot opened as a sharp searing pain tore through her, letting out a scream of pain as she did so, with her wrists being pinned down onto the bed by the sides of her head by Madara. He then pulled out of her only to thrust back in again, moving faster and harder each time, with the redhead wiggling about beneath him from the pain that came whenever they made love to each other.

Eventually, the pain lessened to a dull ache, and her breathing evened out as she did so. Sayo moaned as Madara thrust into her once more, with Madara grunting as he was milked for what it was worth.

"Madara…!" Sayo gritted her teeth from the intrusion. "Please…!"

Madara then pulled out of Sayo again before slamming back into her again harshly, causing her to give a startled scream of pleasure.

**

* * *

**

Three rooms down the hallway away from the master bedroom (Sayo and Madara), Uchiha Seina blearily blinked her eyes opened, wondering just what had woken her from a nice dream consisting of just her and Izuna, and wondering just what had made her dream such a…perverted dream of her and Izuna together.

As a light scream reaches her ears, she groaned and tried to bury her head beneath her pillows. "Oh god… Those two are at it again?" She groaned. "They are like rabbits!"

After Seina had recovered completely and had moved in with Sayo and Madara, there are times that had made her wish that she hadn't agreed to such a thing, especially when Sayo and Madara engaged in one of their…nightly activities.

Seina then blushed when she remembered the time when Sayo had been living with Izuna and her back during the time of the shinobi clan wars, and many a time in the morning, she had seen Sayo almost falling asleep into her breakfast. And when Izuna had enquired the reason behind her lack of sleep, the only answer that the redhead would give is "A pair of rabbits kept me up all night."

Seina isn't as dense as her beloved and could understand what Sayo had meant, but fortunately or unfortunately, Izuna didn't understand. "I think I understand what Sayo had to go through now." Seina muttered.

As another scream reaches her ears, she groaned and formed a single handseal, putting up a silencing jutsu in her room. Happy that she could get a good night's sleep at last, Seina went back to sleep, wondering just how in the nine layers of hell could Obito sleep through something like this, considering the fact that his room is just two rooms away from the master bedroom.

**

* * *

**

In Obito's own room, the guy himself was snoring lightly, hugging a giant bear plushie to his chest that is nearly as large as he is, cotton wool stuffed in his ears as he turned over with a grunt.

Not even a thunderstorm would be able to wake him up tonight.

**

* * *

**

Back in the master bedroom, Madara smirked as Sayo screamed for him again. He then started to quicken his pace, with Sayo starting to move with him unconsciously.

'_Oh God… This feels so good.' _Sayo thought breathlessly as Madara came into her again and again. _'I want more.'_

Almost as if Madara is reading Sayo's mind, he quickened his pace and did her harder, causing Sayo to scream in delight as he brushed against a spot that left her feeling extremely lightheaded. "Gods…" Madara grunted as her walls clammed down around him. "You're sure wild tonight, Sayo."

Madara then grunted as he quickened his pace, thrusting in and out of her, going faster and faster each time, both of them almost reaching their climax. But at the same time, he wanted more as he thrust in even deeper into her. Madara has to increase his strength to keep Sayo's wrists pinned down as she writhed about beneath him, as they both climaxed at the same time, as Madara spilled his semen into her at the same moment when her walls clammed down on him.

**{End Lemon}**

Sayo let out a sigh as she fell back onto the bed, her eyes fluttering shut from exhaustion. "That felt so good," she muttered.

Madara smirked before kissing her passionately on the lips, feeling her starting to return his gestures. "I'll never tire of this," he muttered, as he broke their kiss. "Ready for round two?"

**XXXXXX**

_ANBU Roots' Headquarters  
__Konohagakure no sato_

It was a strange sight one Thursday afternoon when the Uchiha clan heir, Uchiha Itachi could be seen by several of the Roots' agents walking into ANBU Roots' headquarters. But as it was known that Itachi had the Roots' commander's favour, he was allowed to pass, and the thirteen-year-old made his way towards the office of Shimura Danzo himself where the man was sipping his tea calmly, seemingly waiting for him.

"Itachi-kun." Danzo nodded to Itachi as the young teen appeared at the doorway of his office, breathing heavily, his breathing hitched, and slight panic and fear could even be seen in his eyes. Danzo sighed inwardly. _'So they really went through with that order.' _Danzo thought, scowling inwardly. _'I would like to blame the Leaf council here, but this time, even I agree that the Uchiha clan is taking it too far, though technically, they were pushed to their limits. Sensei, what would you say if you knew that your clan had fallen to this?'_

"Sit down. And close the door behind you." Danzo motioned to the seat across from him. Itachi did as he was told before dropping himself in the chair opposite Danzo, and the War Hawk was pleased to see that the young teen across him showed none of the weakness that most ninjas were prone to showing at this age.

He hadn't seen a ninja with such talent ever since his teacher and Orochimaru. No wonder even Orochimaru had an interest in Itachi, and was even planning to take the boy as an apprentice once he becomes of age. But things happened. Even now, the village still refused to believe that Orochimaru is now a traitor of the highest order, and the apprentice that Orochimaru had left behind – Mitarashi Anko, had now turned out to be a very angry young woman. Orochimaru's name had almost become taboo for her, though Danzo knew enough to know that the young woman is smart enough to not believe in everything that everyone had told her. She wanted her own teacher to tell her everything with his own mouth.

"So what is it?" Danzo asked calmly, though he knew just what Itachi had come here for. He had been present at the meeting that Hizuren's two old teammates had called for with the Fire daimyo and the Fourth Hokage. The Oinin and ANBU commanders – Hibiki Neji and Hatake Sakumo, along with their head tactician – Kaiga Shikamaru, have been in on that meeting as well, along with him. That meeting is simple: they were simply reporting on what Itachi had reported to the Hokage about the planned Uchiha coup. Danzo already knew what the Fire daimyo would order even before he had opened his mouth, as he had been the first one that Itachi had gone to with this piece of news before he had gone to the Hokage. Danzo might have been protecting the Uchiha clan all these years because of his teacher and Uchiha Haruki, but even he knew where his priorities lie.

Itachi was silent for several moments before he spoke. "I don't think that I have much of a choice here," he muttered. "The clan isn't budging in the least. I'm going to have to execute them with my own hands."

Danzo sighed. "Not to speak ill against our Lord, but he must be high on pot if he thought that one person could slay an entire clan of Sharingan users without anyone knowing," he muttered.

Itachi looked at Danzo with desperate eyes. "Danzo-san, don't you have any way out of this?" he asked desperately. "I really… I really don't want to have to kill them if I could help it. It is true that the clan had fallen from how they originally were, but…"

Danzo sighed. "Itachi-kun, believe me, I do not want to sentence your entire clan to death as well, but I have little choice," he said. "Why do you think that I've been protecting your clan all these years? It had been an Uchiha who had been my teacher. She taught me everything that I knew about war strategies and war tactics, and I promised her and your grandfather to take care of the Uchiha clan."

Itachi blinked owlishly at this. "An Uchiha?" he echoed.

"That's right. You had probably learnt about her during your Academy days," said Danzo solemnly. "The founder of the ANBU corps as well as the developer of the ninja system and security system that we use in Konoha until today. She is also the first seals master ever known, and is also the legendary kunoichi who is the only known summoner of the legendary Night Wolves." He looked at Itachi in the eye. "Her name is Uchiha Sayo."

Itachi looked as if he had just swallowed a lemon. An extremely sour lemon. "The…first ANBU commander…" He managed to croak out. "And the legendary kunoichi who had been one of the four founders of the village that the Uchiha clan worships as kami-sama…is your sensei?"

Danzo nodded. "That's right. Her and Madara-sama," he answered. "They built this village to what it is today, _not_ the Shodaime and Nidaime." He scowled. "After they left the village due to certain reasons, the Senju supporters jumped at the chance to isolate the Uchiha clan from the ruling of the village. Remember that it had been the Senju clan who wanted to build Konoha, and both the Senju and Uchiha clans have been rivals and enemies for generations prior to the founding of the village. After Madara-sama and Sayo-sensei left, things got pretty bad for the Uchiha clan. It was especially hard for the Uchiha clan head then, Uchiha Haruki, to prevent his clan from flying off the deep end. Haru-sempai had been your grandfather, and he is the nephew of Madara-sama and Sayo-sensei." Danzo sighed. "I would like to take the side of the Uchiha in this matter, but even I agree that they've gone too far this time. I wonder what sensei would say if she knew about this?"

**XXXXXX**

_Senju Forest  
__Konohagakure no sato_

In the forest surrounding Konoha where he had often trained at, Uchiha Itachi watched the back of the departing pigeon forlornly.

Unlike the rest of Konoha and his clan, he had never really believed that Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo are dead. The latter's appearance at one of the war camps during the war set aside, the fact that someone had stopped the Kyuubi's rampage eight years ago spoke tales of their involvement. Their actions proved that they still cared for the village, or maybe just some of her inhabitants. Thus why Itachi believed that they would help him, _if _the pigeon got to them in the first place.

"You can't contact Madara like that," said a soft voice, and Itachi stiffened.

How the hell did someone sneak up on him without him sensing or hearing anything? He spun around quickly, a kunai in one hand. "Who is there?" He demanded.

A redhead stepped out from behind a tree just then, and Itachi's eyes widened. He had seen this kunoichi before – in a photo on Danzo's desk.

"You want to see Madara, don't you?" Uchiha Sayo questioned. "I can help you."

**XXXXXX**

_Tsukikage's Office  
__Tsukigakure no sato_

"So this Danzo contacted you, and told you about the coup and what the Fire daimyo had ordered?" Seina questioned, and Sayo nodded. On Seina's other side was seated Obito who had a frown on his face. The then boy and now young man had grown and matured a lot ever since his near death at the hands of Iwa-nins. Seina sighed. "Damn Sayo, I know that I've said this before; but your predictions are always so accurate that it's almost scary!"

"I don't like to speak ill of my clansmen, but even I agree that they've started believing that they're gods even when I was a kid." Obito admitted. "I remember Itachi. He had been one of my younger cousins, and the kid is sharp, and different from all the others even when he was four. I can see why the daimyo would order him out of all the Uchihas to do such a thing." Obito frowned. "Probably, if I am still in Konoha, they would have ordered the same of me. There are few Uchihas in recent years to stay loyal to the village and not the clan."

Madara sighed. "Yeah, I guessed as much from your talks about the clan when you've woken up," he muttered. "And Danzo didn't seem too happy with them in recent years as well. And this Itachi…" He smirked. "Never thought that I'll ever see a decent Uchiha in this generation."

Sayo sighed. "Whatever it is, I'm going to help him with this," she said solemnly. "If the Uchihas' current state is due to our actions in the past, then the only way to right this is to kill majority of them off – those with heads too big for their shoulders. The survivors can start a new Uchiha clan – one without our sins."

"Survivors?"

"Itachi wished to leave his younger brother alive." Sayo informed them. "I agreed with him on one condition. If his brother didn't grow up the way that he wanted, I will end his brother's life myself. I'm planning to take Itachi into Tsuki. If Uchiha Sasuke don't turn out the way that we want, then a new Uchiha clan will bloom in Tsuki, one without our sins." She sighed. "The bloodline won't die out, but the clan name will die out in Konoha. In the first place, I've never liked the fact that the Uchiha clan had lowered themselves to the rule of the Senju."

**XXXXXX**

_One Week Later  
__Konohagakure no sato_

"This is the end." Sayo muttered, cleaning the blood off her sword, leaning against the wall of one of the Uchiha houses near the western exit of the Uchiha district.

The Uchihas had thought that they'd seen a ghost come back to life when they saw Sayo and Obito for themselves, and it is that element of surprise that had enabled the three of them to take out the entire clan of four hundred by themselves. After it had all ended, Itachi had then asked Sayo and Obito to wait near the western exit whilst he showed himself to Sasuke.

"I don't like them all that much myself, but it makes me feel ill to have to take the lives of my own kinsmen." Obito muttered, looking quite green. "It makes me wonder how Itachi could even handle it."

"Sayo-sensei?"

Sayo stiffened and spun around, before she relaxed as she saw the dark visage of Shimura Danzo decked out in a black cloak to prevent anyone from recognising him, an unconscious Uchiha Itachi under one arm.

"Danzo." Sayo nodded to her old student.

Danzo handed Itachi over to Sayo whom Obito took, carrying Itachi on his back, mildly surprised at how light the boy is. Obito even wondered if the boy had even eaten anything ever since the elders revealed his mission to him.

Danzo sighed as he looked at the unconscious form of Itachi, feeling angry at the Fire daimyo and the Elders for forcing such a task on a thirteen-year-old boy. The Fourth Hokage is the only one apart from himself to protest for imposing such a task on Itachi as well, but he was outvoted, and as this is the daimyo's order, he had no other choice.

"Sensei, please take care of him." Danzo said quietly.

Sayo nodded. "I will," she said. She then turned towards Obito. "Let's go."

Obito nodded before the three then disappeared, leaving Danzo standing where he was, an unreadable expression on his face. _'Good luck, Itachi-kun,' _he thought. _'Live the life that you want to live, instead of what you __**had **__to live for the past thirteen years. I trust your safety and well being with Sayo-sensei. Create a new Uchiha clan in wherever sensei is taking you to. Good luck…' _He vanished with a quick shunshin. _'…Uchiha Itachi.'_


	22. With Sorrow

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two: With Sorrow**

_Konoha Hospital  
__Konohagakure no sato_

Hatake nee Hanesawa (formerly Haruno) Sakura stood in front of a hospital ward door, talking with Hibiki (formerly Hyuuga) Neji and Kaiga (formerly Nara) Shikamaru in serious tones. All three have frowns on their faces.

Shikamaru sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Troublesome," he nearly groaned. "History has played itself out again. We weren't able to stop the Uchiha clan."

"Well, I didn't think that we'll be able to anyway," said Neji with a sigh. "The Kyuubi attack had all but set the path for the coup. But…" He glanced over his shoulder at the ward door that they were standing in front of where eight-year-old Uchiha Sasuke was resting in after Sakura and her former jounin instructor and now stepson have found the boy as a wreck in the middle of the Uchiha compound nearly three days ago. Neji turned back towards his two friends. "That night… There's more than one person who had done it."

Sakura was shocked, but Shikamaru nodded solemnly. Neji had been the head of the Oinin forces, whilst Shikamaru is one of the village's chief tacticians. Because of their high positions in the village military, they have been one of the first ones at the scene of the Uchiha massacre. Sakura, whilst being one of the village's leading medic-nins, had been busy at the hospital with Sasuke, and wasn't at the scene of the 'crime'.

The Uchiha massacre had been three days ago, and the entire village is up in arms about the crime, and roaring for Itachi's blood. But for Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru, the Hokage, Dan, Sakumo and Danzo, the few who knew the truth about the Uchiha massacre, they found it very difficult to stay silent, but duty forced them to do so. They knew what would happen if the truth should ever leak out to the general populace. Minato didn't like it, as he didn't see the sense in keeping something of this magnitude from Sasuke, but it was a direct order from the daimyo himself, and he has little choice but to obey.

Sakura sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "I don't like it," she admitted, and Neji and Shikamaru both nodded grimly. "It is almost like history is repeating itself all over again." She sighed again. "I know the orders that Itachi was given, and while I don't like it, I guess I can understand why that order was given."

Neji nearly groaned. "Now I understand why Sayo was so pissed off at the village for nearly six months until she had vanished," he muttered.

"What are we going to do about Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked carefully, looking from one to the other. "If we leave him alone, he'll…"

There was silence among the three for a few moments before Sakura sighed. "I have an idea." Shikamaru and Neji turned towards her at that point. The pink haired medic-nin frowned before she glanced over her shoulder at the hospital room that they were all standing outside of before turning towards her two friends. "I will have to ask Sakumo about this, but I'm sure that he'll agree." Sakura bit on her lower lip nervously. "I'll take him in my family."

Shikamaru blinked owlishly. That's the last thing that he thought that he'd ever hear from Sakura. "You mean adopt him?"

"Yeah," said Sakura with a nod. "Something like that. I doubt that he would give up his own name, but if he has a family to help him through this, he will be less likely to run in the future. If he does though…" Sakura closed her eyes. "Then maybe Sayo is right about him all along."

Neji and Shikamaru both stayed silent.

They knew that Sayo and Sakura both have quite a big argument about two months before Sayo's mission to Ame. The redhead was pissed off at Sasuke after the Uchiha had tried killing her for the third time, and had almost succeeded that time. Even the most patient of people had their limits, and Sayo had just about reached breaking point. To the ANBU commander and Oinin commander's surprise then, Sayo had finally agreed to their mission request to hunt down and execute one Uchiha Sasuke for high treason.

Obviously, Sakura didn't take it so well then, and both kunoichis have quite a shouting match until Sayo blew up at Sakura who was shocked at seeing Sayo lose her temper for the first time. The mission to Ame took place not long after that, and that was the last time that Sakura had seen Sayo.

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Alright, let's go then," he said. "We all have a long night, and none of us have even slept for more than four hours a night ever since the massacre. Let's go."

Sakura nodded wearily before the three of them walked down the hospital hallway, all wanting to just go home and have a warm shower before falling into bed. The Hokage had kindly given them a week off just to rest up, as all of them have been on the go ever since three nights ago, alongside Sakumo and Dan.

Sakura rubbed her eyes tiredly as they walked down the nearly empty hospital hallway, as it is near midnight by then, and walked past a redhead kunoichi leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. It is only when they walked past that redhead when Sakura's mind came back to her, and she spun around so quickly that she nearly tripped over her own feet.

But that redhead from before is gone.

Sakura blinked in confusion. Was she seeing things?

'_Eh?'_

* * *

_Hospital  
__Tsukigakure no sato_

Sayo made a beeline straight to the hospital the moment that she had arrived back at the 'landing port' of Tsuki.

Itachi had been brought straight to the hospital of Tsuki almost as soon as Obito and she had taken him to the village, as he had overused the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Seina is currently busy treating his eyes, as if she do not put that failsafe in his Mangekyou, it could easily lead to blindness within a few years for the younger Uchiha.

There were quite a few Uchihas who had attained the Mangekyou Sharingan during the time of the shinobi clan wars, and when one of them had nearly gone blind after overuse of the Mangekyou, Seina was then made aware of the side effects of it, and was alarmed, as both Izuna and Madara have the Mangekyou as well then. Seina had then set to work on researching the Mangekyou and how to prevent the user from going blind.

It had taken her nearly a year, but Seina is not known as one of the best medic-nins of all time back then for nothing, and she had finally figured out how to put that failsafe in the Mangekyou. It is all just a matter of enlarging the chakra pathways near the eyes by use of surgery, but even that is a risk in itself. So far, Sayo only knew of both Izuna and Madara who were brave enough to let themselves be used by Seina as guinea pigs to test out that treatment which fortunately worked.

The only side back is that after the surgery, the user will be bedridden for a week, and during that week, they won't be able to use their eyes and neither are they allowed to let light enter their eyes in order to let the chakra pathways mature itself. They would also not be able to use the Sharingan for a year at least, in order to let the chakra pathways of their eyes expand and mature itself naturally after the surgery. If they do so, Seina has to perform that same surgery again.

Sayo headed straight to the restricted section of the hospital, and towards Itachi's room where both Seina and Obito are currently with Itachi. Both of them looked up as Sayo entered, and Itachi who still had his eyes bandaged only turned towards Sayo when he heard the sound of the door opening, a hopeful look on his face.

It had been by Itachi's request that Sayo had even headed to Konoha in the first place, though Madara wasn't pleased by it, as he held no love for Konoha by this point in time, and neither does Seina when she heard what had happened during the fifty or so years when she had been asleep. Obito still has some love for his old village, but it is only for the few people in the village who _doesn't _treat him like shit, just because he is the 'black sheep' of the Uchiha clan.

Sayo sighed as she closed the door behind her, keeping it shut with her weight as she leaned against the door, her arms crossed over her chest. "He seems to be alright, Itachi," she told the younger Uchiha.

Itachi sighed in relief at that. "Thank goodness."

"You didn't injure him too badly, though I think the real damage is in his head – when he saw all the dead bodies of his clansmen, with _you _standing above your parents' bodies with a bloodied katana in your hand." Sayo pointed out, and Itachi flinched at that. "But he's your kid brother after all. He should be all right. The pink haired medic, Sakura or something, had healed him. And from what I overheard, she seems to be planning on adopting him."

"I see," said Itachi with a small smile. "Sakura…" He mused to himself. "Must be Hanesawa-san. Hatake-sama's wife, and Kakashi-sempai's stepmother. If she's involved, then I don't have to worry about Sasuke any longer."

"Uh huh. Though I think that we have to worry more about Raven's Gate if you ask me," said Seina darkly. "The Kyuubi attack was obviously instigated by them. They probably didn't anticipate Sayo getting herself involved, given her bad history with Konoha. But the Uchiha massacre…" She trailed off. "Something tells me that they're involved."

"Yeah, I agree," said Sayo, rubbing her temples. "Then the Uchiha massacre…" She trailed off. "I won't be surprised if they have something to do with the rumours about the Uchiha clan behind the Kyuubi attack. That is what instigated the Uchiha clan to launch a coup in the first place. Raven's Gate had never been fond of the Uchiha clan, especially since we're the ones who had sealed away their leader, and had also been the one to thwart their plans regarding the conflict back then when Konoha was first founded."

Seina frowned. "Judging by what you said, with the Kyuubi attack, they seems to be coming out into the open now…after more than fifty years."

Sayo sighed. "Yeah. I don't like the feeling of this," she admitted. "It's true that we knew all along that they will come out sooner or later, but all their actions recently… It seems to me that they're desperate. For what exactly, I don't really know. But I got a feeling that it has something to do with Hiore and Kyuubi."

Obito frowned. "Well, according to Madara-sama, he said that the Kyuubi is supposedly this Hiore's mother," he said, and Sayo nodded. "And this Hiore is their leader. Probably, Raven's Gate got pissed because we targeted their leader's mother, and sealed her away into Makai for eternity."

"Well, it _is_ said that Raven's Gate idolise Hiore and Kyuubi, so what you're saying isn't entirely impossible." Sayo muttered. She then glanced around at the three other occupants. "Well, I'll get our spies and scouts on the lookout for Raven's Gate. I'll send word to Ame, and get Nagato, Yahiko and Konan on the lookout as well. As well as my old student."

**XXXXXX**

_Unknown Location  
__Konohagakure no sato_

There was the sound of a large crash, along with the kicking up of several layers of dust as a thick slab of concrete fell flat to the ground, with the sound echoing around the deserted hallway that three jounins now stood in.

Sakura coughed as she covered her nose and mouth, trying to prevent the dust from entering her lungs, but to no avail. Beside her, Shikamaru was in much the same state as her, hacking and wheezing like he's an old man or suffering from a case of asthma. Neji was the only one of them smart enough to _not _breathe in when they have kicked the slab of concrete down, and was now waving the flashlight in his hand to and fro, causing the light to bounce from one end to the other.

"This the place?" Neji asked, turning unseen eyes towards Sakura who is standing in between him and Shikamaru.

Sakura nodded, still trying to cough the dust out of her lungs. "Yeah. Sakumo gave me the coordinates of this place. This leads to one of Orochimaru's labs in Konoha." She then frowned. "Orochimaru is one of those who gave us one of the worse problems back when we're genin. So if he isn't around, then Sasuke probably won't defect from Konoha."

Shikamaru sighed. "Sakura, I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said. "Even if you want to deceive yourself, go ahead. But you're no fool. You know as well as all of us do that Sasuke is a lost cause. But we've changed some things for him here, so _hopefully, _he won't be as bad a traitor as he had been back then. Though I wouldn't hope for it." Shikamaru added.

Sakura said nothing, but sighed. "Well, I'll try my best to steer him off the wrong path," she said. "I think it's this way down." She pointed a finger down the dark hallway, and walked down it. Her two friends followed her as she did so.

It was a long walk, maybe around thirty minutes or so before Sakura came to a stop by the wall on the right side of the hallway, her eyes glued to the map that her husband had given her the previous day. Sakumo had been the ANBU commander in Konoha, being in one of the top positions in the village, and he had access to restricted information.

When Sakura had approached him, saying that she wanted to investigate Orochimaru's labs that had been left abandoned after his defection eight years ago, Sakumo had handed over the map that had been compiled by him and Dan, on which was marked all the known locations of Orochimaru's labs. The hallway that the three of them are now in is located in one of the underground passages of Konoha that led to one of Orochimaru's labs.

"This is the entrance of the lab that had been marked on this map," said Sakura, looking from the map to the wall in front of her, and back to the map again, a frown on her face.

"This wall?" Shikamaru questioned, one brow raised as he examined the rather solid-looking wall in front of him.

Neji frowned before he activated his Byakugan quietly beneath his blindfold. There are several advantages for him in battle when both his allies and enemies have assumed that he is blind because of that blindfold always covering his eyes. His enemies always underestimated him in battle because of his 'handicap', and he is also able to activate his Byakugan without revealing the telltale bulging veins around his eyes with his blindfold on.

Neji then frowned. "It's a fake wall," he said, turning his Byakugan off. "Sakura, knock the wall down."

"What do I look like, Armstrong?" Sakura demanded, but she obliged by cocking one fist back and punching the wall in front of her.

For a moment, nothing happened, before a series of spider-like cracks appeared on the wall from the impact of Sakura's fist. And then, the entire wall just crumbled to bits in front of them, unfortunately covering the three of them from head-to-toe in thick dust that must have stayed there for nearly eight years.

"Oh god! I hate this!" Sakura cried out, hacking and wheezing on the dust as it clogged up her windpipe. Beside her, Neji and Shikamaru were hacking their lungs up as well.

It took them several moments before the dust subsided – both from the air and from their lungs, and the three jounins then looked at each other. "Good thing that Sakumo-san isn't here," said Neji wearily, and Sakura and Shikamaru both laughed. Sakumo with his sharp nose and sensitive senses – almost as good as any Inuzuka being here with them when they're all almost dying from the dust in here?

"Alright, come on, let's go in," said Sakura hesitantly, almost afraid of what she will find in here. She had been to several of Orochimaru's old hideouts in the past after all, and had found several _things _that should not even be mentioned.

Much to Sakura's relief, she found no experiments of any kind – only a room that resembles a study of some sort, with several papers all over the tables and the dusty floor. "Is there power running in here?" Sakura asked Neji, her eyes beginning to hurt from the constant darkness that they were in.

"One moment," said Neji before feeling around the wall for the switch. He found it at last and flicked on the switch. Much to their relief, light immediately flooded the room, and Neji then turned the flashlight off. He had to blink several times to get used to the sudden brightness, but the moment that he did, he made a beeline straight to the table in the middle of the small room. Shikamaru and Sakura crowded around him as he did so.

The papers on the table and on the floor seemed to be diagrams and reports of what seemed like some sort of experiment that will give a human super human strength for a limited period of time, but the reports don't seem complete. It is more like Orochimaru had abandoned those experiments halfway through, something that seem weird to all three.

Neji was leafing through several reports on what seemed to be an illness by the name of 'Chakra Poisoning', and from the looks of things, Orochimaru seemed to be trying to find a way to cure it. Neji snorted and shook his head.

Impossible.

The Orochimaru that he knew would never do something like this. It is beneath his nature to actually help others. The man even had the guts to kill his own teacher and several others. How could he possibly genuinely wish to help others? The day that will happen is the day when Uchiha Madara turns good.

Shikamaru let out a whistle just then. "Hey guys. I found something."

"What?" Sakura asked, walking over to Shikamaru who seemed to be holding onto a leather bound journal covered with dust. "A journal?"

Shikamaru examined it carefully before frowning. "It's sealed," he said. "Bound to be something of importance then." He muttered before setting to work to unseal the journal. It didn't take him long before the first entry was unsealed.

'_Everyone is gone._

_They're all gone._

_I hate war. It takes away everything, and nothing is left in it's wake but more pain and suffering. That nice lady, Sayo-san, gave me this when she took me back to her village. That ninja village that we've all been hearing tales about._

_Konoha._

_I met this guy that she introduced me to. Madara-san or something like that. And I even met this nice guy that introduced himself as Haru-san, and some injured ninja by the name of Danzo. They're all so nice to me, but they're not mamma and papa._

_Sayo-san gave me this journal. She said to write down all my thoughts, my joys and sorrows, and that I'll feel better if I do so. I don't know about that, but there isn't much that I can use this journal for anyway.'_

Sakura, Shikamaru and Neji exchanged looks. "He mentioned a Sayo in here…" Sakura said slowly at last. "It can't be…"

Shikamaru nodded grimly. "And Madara… Not _Uchiha _Madara, surely?" he whispered. "And Haru? There's only one person with that name that I know of during the time when Orochimaru is a kid, and he seems quite young when he wrote this entry. I don't know, maybe four or five? There's only one person named Haru during that time. _Uchiha _Haruki, Sasuke's grandfather, and the Uchiha clan head after Uchiha Madara."

"And Danzo." Neji pointed out. He then frowned. "What do Orochimaru and Danzo both have to do with Sayo?"

"We'll probably find out once we read the rest." Shikamaru muttered before he set to work to unsealing the next journal entry. The next entry seemed to be nearly a year after the first entry.

'_The first week of the Academy ended. FINALLY._

_Don't those girls know the meaning of the word 'no'? No, I suppose not. And that guy. What's his name now? Jiraiya or something. Okay, he seems cheerful enough, being the son of the head merchant, and at least he doesn't give me those irritating pitying looks that just about everyone gave me._

_The Academy put aside, Sayo-san gave me a piece of good news. She agreed to train me! Yay! The downside is that Jiraiya will be training alongside me too. Well, it wouldn't hurt. At least he isn't as annoying as those stupid girls in my class. That Danzo guy is apparently one of Sayo-sensei's old students, and he had been helping Sayo-sensei train Jiraiya and me in chakra control._

_I've totally lost count the number of times when I fell off the tree and had landed on my head. I hope the saying that one becomes an idiot when they fell on their head isn't true. Sayo-sensei laughed at me when I said that. _

_Danzo-sempai gave me this weird look as well before saying that he would love to see just what type of ninja that I'll grow up into. Oh, not forgetting Jiraiya as well.'_

Sakura looked as if she had just seen a ghost when they'd finished reading the second entry. "You can't be serious…" she finally moaned. "Sayo _trained _Orochimaru? Why _him_ of all people?"

"And she trained _Danzo_ as well?" Shikamaru groaned. "This is troublesome. Sayo trained two of the greatest nemeses of our lives? Next thing we know, we'll be finding out that Sayo trained Itachi as well."

Neji sighed. "Shikamaru, next entry please," he requested.

"Fine. Fine. Don't rush me." Shikamaru grumbled before he unsealed the next entry. The next entry was dated six months from the last entry, and the handwriting was untidy, quite unlike the handwriting of the previous entries that was large and neat.

'_The village seems different this morning when I've woken up and gone to the Academy as usual with Jiraiya only to see the notice on the front doors that stated that the Academy will be closed for the day._

_It seems weird to me._

_I only hope that nothing had happened to Sayo-sensei, especially after her brief confrontation with those three from the Hyuuga clan the previous day. I only live for Sayo-sensei. She is whom I live for. She is the one to save my life, and also the one to train me to be a ninja. I remember telling her once that once I become a ninja, I will protect her with my life._

_Sayo-sensei only smiled and said that she will look forward to it, and she also said that with every generation, the new generation grows stronger than the previous one. She said that she wants to see me become stronger than her and Madara-sama._

_Me, stronger than Sayo-sensei, the legendary kunoichi that nearly everyone in the elemental nations have heard of? Impossible._

_I made myself a promise that day when Sayo-sensei had saved me, and I swore in front of my dead parents' graves. I said that I would protect Sayo-sensei no matter what. I will not fail her. Not like how I had failed my parents. No matter what happens, even if she herself betrayed me, I will not fail her. I will protect her. She is the one to save my life. She has the right to take it away if she so deems it._

_I will not fail her._

_When the Academy closed for the day, and I barely saw any ninjas out on the streets that day sans for the usual chuunins that guarded the gates, I had a bad feeling. I left the Academy and headed towards the Hokage's office to find Tobirama-sama or even Sayo-sensei for some answers regarding that day's strange occurrences in which nearly half of the ninjas of the village have gone missing mysteriously. The gossiping of two women – one whom I recognised as the Hokage's secretary caught my attention even before I've arrived at the Hokage's office._

_I heard the words 'Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo have both deserted the village and had killed the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama'._

_I didn't believe them. _

_How dare they defile the name of my sensei in front of me like that? My sensei would do no such thing. And even if she does, there must be a good reason for it. Sayo-sensei loves the village more than anything else in the world. She is the one to build the village to what it now is, __**not**__ the Hokage and his brother!_

_I went to the next best place where I knew I would find my answers: I went to the Roots' headquarters. I found Danzo-sempai and Haru-sempai in Danzo-sempai's office, both of them having a serious discussion. Haru-sempai looked angry and said something about the council demanding a total lockdown on the Uchiha clan with their clan head's defection._

_They both then noticed me, of course. I asked them about the rumours that I've been hearing on the streets, and asked for Sayo-sensei. Danzo-sempai and Haru-sempai looked at each other before turning back to me. They both looked at me with angry and sorrowful eyes, and told me the __**truth **__of the entire affair._

_It is true that Sayo-sensei and Madara-sama have both defected the village._

_And it is also true that they've killed the Hokage._

_But that is only because it's the Hokage who had betrayed them first! I asked Haru-sempai just what did the Hokage do to them, as even the ever calm and composed Haru-sempai looked ready to blow._

_Haru-sempai refused to tell me, no matter how much I have asked. He only told me that I could rest assured that Sayo-sensei and Madara-sama are no traitors. They only did what they did because they were forced to. _

_For nearly an entire week after that, I kept hearing on the streets how Sayo-sensei and Madara-sama are traitors, and that the entire Uchiha clan is better off dead. I refused to listen to them. My sensei is no traitor! It must be something serious that would have driven her to do something like this!_

_Tobirama-sama became the next Hokage, and he shot down every single proposal from the council that suggested punishing the Uchiha clan. In fact, he seems to support them instead, despite the death of his brother at the hands of an Uchiha. Haru-sempai became the Uchiha clan head, and unlike Madara-sama, he took no nonsense from the clan council and the other clans. So much to the extent that nearly every single clan is afraid of dealing with him._

_Everyone in the entire village believed the story going around about how Sayo-sensei and Madara-sama have gone berserk and slaughtered the Hokage when he tried to stop them from defecting. _

_I did not believe them._

_I know my sensei better than anyone else, and I will not believe those lies._

_I know that Haru-sempai and Danzo-sempai knew the truth of what really happened that night. But they wouldn't tell me. They refused to tell me, no matter how much I have asked and begged._

_I swore to myself then that I would find my way back to Sayo-sensei. This, I hereby do swear._

_I will find her._

_No matter what.'_

**XXXXXX**

_Lake Kagami  
__Tsukigakure no sato_

Lake Kagami is a beautiful lake at the back of the village that surrounds the borders that Tsukigakure shared with the Water Country. The waters of the lake are so clear and beautiful that one could almost see the fishes at the bottom. The Academy students of Tsuki were often brought to this lake by their teachers to train on their chakra control, and it is a common sight by now to the citizens of Tsukigakure that they would always see the Academy students making their way back to the Academy soaking wet every Friday afternoon. The lake is also an ideal place for dates, and it is also this lake where one could find Uchiha Madara at near sundown.

The head of Tsukigakure was currently sitting at the edge of the lake with several sake bottles around him, staring into the horizon of the lake, a saucer half-filled with sake to his lips.

"Izuna, I can fulfil my promise to you at last." Madara muttered, drinking the sake, with another half-filled saucer of sake next to him as an offering to his late brother. Back during the time of the shinobi clan wars, the two brothers often spent their days drinking sake if they're not sparring or on missions. "I'll take care of Seina." Madara's lips quirked sadly as he placed down the empty saucer beside him. "You must hate me. I was the one to take away your life. Maybe if you were still alive, the clan wouldn't have ended up like this. Why did no one hate me for your death? Even Seina doesn't blame me. I don't even have the guts to tell your son the truth of your death. I'm a coward."

A pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind just then, and Madara turned his head only to see Sayo hugging him from behind, resting her cheek against his shoulder, showing with that small little gesture that she will always be there for him, supporting him.

Madara smiled a small smile at Sayo before touching her fingers with his own, and turning his gaze to the lake where a light mist was starting to roll over the waters of the lake. _'Sayo… Why do you always stick with me, no matter what? No matter what people say about me, and no matter what I'd done…you'd never given up on me. And neither did you desert me. Even Izuna's death from back then…you'd never blamed me for it. Not even once. I don't deserve this.'_

"Thinking about Izuna again?" Sayo asked in a low tone. "You are always so down during his death anniversary. Seina always disappeared on this day every year as well."

Madara smiled sadly. "Izuna would probably kick my ass if he should see me acting this pathetic." Madara muttered. "He's always been like that."

Sayo laughed. "Yeah, I suppose so," she said. "Come to think of it, Obito is a lot like Izuna when we were young. And Itachi looks just like him when he was that age." She sighed. "They're his descendants after all."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Madara admitted. "So what did you come here for? Something important, I guess. You never come to see me during Izuna's death anniversary unless something important cropped up."

Sayo sighed. "Got it right in one," she said before she untangled herself from Madara, and the latter then turned around to face his wife as the redhead reached into her pocket and unfolded a letter of some sort, along with several photos.

"What are those?" Madara asked with a quirked brow as he glanced over the photos. It looked awfully like some of those photos that the village's ninja investigators always took of the dead bodies of the people involved in a ninja investigating case for evidence.

"This came by Ame's fastest messenger falcon early this morning, just minutes after you stepped out," said Sayo, holding a letter that bore Yahiko's seal, the head of Amegakure. "It's from Yahiko."

Madara frowned. Yahiko nearly never contacts them unless he has important news. It had always been Nagato and Konan who were their liaises between Tsuki and Ame, with their usual once every three months' visits, with the two of them being the second-in-commands of Ame's military, and also Yahiko's most trusted.

"What did he say?"

"He said that his patrols have been discovering several strange bodies around their borders and territories of late." Sayo explained. "Bodies of their ninjas as well as intruders. Konan told me about a month ago when she and Nagato made their usual visits that there have been intruders intruding on Ame's borders and territories of late. Village affiliation unknown. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when those strange bodies started appearing."

Madara frowned. "Strange in what way?" he asked.

Sayo sighed. "Take a look at these, and you'll know," she said wearily, tossing Madara a few of the photos that she had been holding.

Madara took the photos from Sayo curiously before his eyebrows nearly shot to the top of his hairline as he took in the sight of those photos. The dead bodies in every single photo were charred black. But not from a Katon jutsu. Whatever that had burned those bodies had charred them down to their bones, leaving only half of the skeletons behind. And even the bones that had remained were pitch black, and looked as if it will collapse at any minute.

Sayo sighed. "And you know the most interesting thing that Konan had told me? She is the medic that had performed the autopsy on those bodies. Those poor souls had died barely a few days when the border patrol had discovered them. Yahiko suspects that it might be some new jutsu, or even 'them'."

Madara was silent for a long time, staring at those photos before he turned towards Sayo, a silent fury in his eyes. "It's no mistake. These injuries…" He looked at the photo before turning back towards Sayo. "It's that kinjutsu."

"Yeah, I thought as much when I received these from Yahiko," said Sayo with a nod, glancing down at the photos that Madara held. "Only 'they' could have done something like this." She glanced at Madara. "Bone Eater. A torturing kinjutsu that could have passed off as a curse of some sort that uses the cursed flames of Hell to consume the victim's flesh, nerves and bones slowly. It's a technique specially developed for the use for torture and interrogation. Effective, but also inhumane at the same time." Sayo glared at those photos. "Only an onmyouji like Hiore could have come up with something like this, making this one of that organisation's trademark moves. I remember that we have lots of problems during that conflict back then during Konoha's founding with that curse."

Madara sighed. "First the Kyuubi attack. Then the Uchiha massacre. Now this." He gestured towards the photos in his hands. "I was hoping that they wouldn't appear for some time at least, but it looks like it's for naught." He glanced at his wife. "Looks like Raven's Gate is finally on the move."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, everyone! I have been really busy with exams for the last month or so. Now I have to wait for my results that will only be out during June! I hate waiting. Anyway, the Bone Eater part is actually something that I got from reading a Harry Potter story sometime back. I simply can't remember the name of that story._

_So someone had been asking me about the chuunin exams. Yes, I am probably going to have Tsuki enter the exams, and Ame will have some applicants as well. I am considering having either Konan or Nagato enter as a jounin instructor. But I'm not sure about the Uchihas. Probably, I'll have Seina appear as a jounin instructor, as she is the only one among the five Uchihas whose face isn't known to Konoha, as she is already in a coma even before Konoha's founding! Not even Sasuke knows the face of his great-grandmother after all._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_Death's Second Chance__ (Naruto)_

Fate sure loves fucking with one Namikaze Riiyu, it seems like. She doesn't even know if she should hate herself or Kami for sending her back through time into the body of an Uchiha girl, sent to guide Uchiha Sasuke off the path of darkness and to stop the war from ever occurring. Genma/FemNaru

_Era of Darkness__ (Naruto)_

Akatsuki moved 16 years early, and took over the entire shinobi world, with Uchiha Madara at the helm of it all. In a world without freedom and in a time of darkness, a group of ninjas that were the few survivors fought to reclaim back their world. Extreme AU. Pairing undecided

_Unseen Roads__ (Naruto)_

Set in Shinobi Love Universe. What would life be like if Namikaze Shiki is never a ninja of Fire, and Orochimaru had never attacked Whirlpool?

_Ninja Exorcists__ (Naruto)_

There is a special ninja team in Konoha, an investigation team cum exorcists. And all of them shared the same gift to see the beings not of this world, a gift that often seems like a curse, and is more trouble than it seems. FemNaru/Genma


	23. Commence, the Chuunin Exams!

I'm back! And sorry for the long hiatus! I just can't seem to get into writing recently, probably due to the number of games that I've been playing lately. And probably because of the fact that I've been playing too many games that my hands have been feeling numb frequently. I hope that it isn't much…

Anyway, here is a new chapter of Second Chances. Also, in this universe, Orochimaru _isn't _the leader of Otogakure. He had been helping Sayo and Madara from behind the scenes as one of Sayo's many informants and spies _alone. _He will still be involved in the chuunin exams' arc, but I got a different role planned for him.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Three: Commence, the Chuunin Exams!**

_Tsukigakure no sato  
__Tsuki no kuni_

_**Invitation to Chuunin Exams at Konoha.**_

That was the first sentence that simply jumped out at Uchiha Madara, and one of the oldest living Uchihas in existence can't help but stare blankly at the scroll in his hands. Tsuki gets an invitation like this every single year from the hosting village, considering the fact that they are one of the great six. But they usually turn the invitation down unless the chuunin exams are being held in Amegakure.

But this time, Madara is in two minds about the chuunin examinations.

It had been four years since the Uchiha incident, and ever since they've received word from the leader of Ame and his two seconds regarding the Bone Eater incident – the first piece of evidence that they've gotten in over fifty years regarding a certain organisation that they have been after ever since the time of the shinobi clan wars.

Orochimaru, his wife's old student had sent word barely a month ago that Suna had been making several strange movements of late, and there were talks that the Kazekage had been meeting with the leader of that new village that had been formed sometime in the last year in the Rice Field Country, Otogakure. It had taken Sayo some time, but she had managed to find out that this 'Oto' village is one of Raven's Gate's many underlings.

Not that Madara is surprised.

For an organisation like them that had such twisted ideals, and had been around for as long as they did, they are bound to have all kinds of underground connections with all kinds of people and places. It probably isn't even that farfetched to assume that they have spies in nearly every single village, sans for Tsuki. The security measurements of Tsuki and the background checks of every single shinobi in their village were taken to a whole other level, unlike other villages. Sayo had made sure of that. And Madara had agreed with her. After what Hashirama had pulled with them, they are bound to be paranoid. And if Raven's Gate is involved… Well, they had better step up their security checks.

Also, Yahiko had informed Madara of some rumours that Nagato had heard when he happened to be passing through Suna on a delegate mission two weeks ago. Rumours of a planned invasion on Konoha during the chuunin exams. The redhead Rinnegan wielder had stumbled into a bar by mistake, and had overheard some drunken Suna-nin talking about it in a drunken stupor. Naturally, as the ninja was drunk then, Nagato wasn't sure what to make of it, but had deem it fit to inform Yahiko who was understandably concerned about the rumours.

Granted, it is well known among the entire elemental continents that Tsuki is never that fond of Konoha – something that the Leaf village had no idea how and why it had started in the first place. Ever since the reign of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hizuren, Konoha had been trying to push for better relations and a possible alliance with Tsuki, but Madara had stubbornly blocked them at every turn. And naturally, until this day, not a single village, sans for Yahiko, had seen the face of the kage of Tsukigakure.

But this time, Yahiko is concerned about the invasion rumours, especially considering the fact that Konoha had been his first sensei's home. Two years after Sayo and Madara have saved the Ame trio from certain death at Hanzo's hands, and after Yahiko had became the head of Amegakure, Jiraiya of the Sannin had came running into Ame all of a sudden, shocking the hell out of the Ame trio. Apparently, he had heard rumours from one of his spies that the three of them are still alive, after having believed them dead, and he had came running to confirm the rumours.

Yahiko had sent a letter to Madara, informing him of his hope that Madara send Tsuki genin teams into Konoha for the chuunin exams this year. The head of Amegakure wished to protect his sensei's home from a possible invasion, even though he understood just why Madara never sent genin teams from Tsuki for chuunin exams.

Finally, Madara sighed and looked up from the scroll that he had been staring at for the past half hour, looking at Sayo and Seina both. The two women have similar frowns on their faces.

"What do you both think?" Madara asked.

There was silence for several moments before Sayo sighed. "Personally, I think that we should go," she said. The redhead then raised a hand to stop the protests about to come her way from both Seina and Madara. "Let me explain. Ever since the Kyuubi attack, we all knew that Raven's Gate is still alive, and had been trying to find ways to revive their lord – Toshigaki Hiore. It had been twelve years since the Kyuubi attack, and there have been a number of small incidents happening all over the elemental continents that is in some way, linked to them. The seal that I've placed Hiore in _isn't _eternal. No seal is. It _will _break one day. But Raven's Gate doesn't know _that._ And whoever is in charge now doesn't know that as well. But as I am originally from Konoha, they probably thought that they could get clues on how to break their master's seal in Konoha. And which village in the world holds the most number of forbidden techniques?"

Seina frowned. "Well, Tsuki is, but apart from Ame, the rest of the world doesn't know _that," _she said. "They only knew us as a highly secretive and powerful village who specialises in Intel and sealing techniques, and that our medic arts are top class. But if what you said is true, that they're finding ways to revive their master, then the reason why they targeted the Uchiha clan four years ago…" She trailed off.

"They probably thought that the key to breaking the seal is somewhere in the Uchiha clan compound. I mean, Sayo _is_ an Uchiha after all." Madara finished, and Sayo nodded. He then frowned. "But the Uchiha clan compound hasn't been lived in ever since the massacre." He sighed. "This isn't good. _Definitely_ not good. Prior to our departure, Sayo included a number of forbidden techniques in the Forbidden Scroll of Hashirama's. Among which includes the Edo Tensei technique that both Tobirama and Orochimaru have worked on after our departure, and which Orochimaru had completed when he was in his twenties. There are several highly classified and dangerous sealing techniques that she had included in the Forbidden Scroll at that time as well. I made my contributions as well, as did Hashirama and Tobirama." Madara frowned. "Assuming that this invasion is true, and if Raven's Gate got their hands on the Forbidden Scroll, it wouldn't be good. Granted, they won't be able to release the seal on Hiore with _any _of the techniques in there. But if they got their hands on the Forbidden Scroll, it wouldn't be good. We still don't know what their main goal is after all, even after more than eighty years."

"I know that Ame is sending a genin team to participate, and both Konan and Nagato would be present as Yahiko's representatives until the third round of the chuunin exams," said Seina with a frown. "But who should we send from our side? I don't think that it's wise if we send more than one genin team. Tsuki has been high on the radar of nearly all the ninja villages after all, with how secretive we are. I don't think anyone apart from Yahiko, Nagato and Konan as well as our own people even _knew_ where Tsukigakure is located!"

"And I intend to keep it that way," said Sayo with a frown. "Madara, any genin teams ready to tackle a chuunin exam in foreign territory? Please take in accordance the fact that they might have to tackle several political issues as well, as this is the first time that Tsuki will be sending a genin team to participate in the chuunin exams. So please do make sure that they're all at least trained somewhat in diplomacy."

Madara sighed and plucked a brown folder on his desk, flipping through several pages before he finally stopped, reading and re-reading the profiles of the three genins and their jounin instructor. He then glanced at his wife and sister-in-law again.

"Zabuza's team is ready," he answered. "His team consists of the ice user, Yukina Haku; the Rookie of the Year, Sasaki Rihan, the heir to the legendary swordsman clan; as well as Tatsuyama Kyo."

Momochi Zabuza had actually been 'picked up' by one of the newer members of the Akatsuki – Tsukigakure's elite bodyguard force, Hoshigaki Kisame, who had joined Tsuki not long after the Mist rebellion by the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Itachi had actually been the one to 'pick him up', as the teen had been sent to a mission near Mist's borders not long after the Uchiha massacre, and had ran into Kisame. Madara doesn't know what had transpired between the two, that Itachi had managed to convince a stubborn and obstinate man such as Hoshigaki Kisame to join Tsuki, and had later became part of the Akatsuki, being Itachi's partner.

About five years ago, Kisame had then ran into Zabuza and his new apprentice, the last remaining survivor of the famous ice user clan in Kiri, when the shark-like man had entered Kiri's borders on a scouting mission. Zabuza had been somewhat of a 'kouhai' of Kisame, and the man had agreed to join Tsuki, taking Haku with him. It was only later this year that Madara had managed to con Zabuza into taking on a genin team, much to his disgruntlement.

Seina frowned at the mention of the name of the last genin. "Tatsuyama…?" she said slowly. "That clan name sounds familiar."

Sayo and Madara exchanged knowing looks. "They would," said Sayo, turning towards Seina. "The Tatsuyama name is feared throughout all the shinobi nations. Remember? We encountered a few of their clan members during the shinobi clan wars."

Seina snapped her fingers. "I remember now!" she said. "They're that clan that uses Death and Life techniques, isn't it? They can siphon an opponent's life to heal their injuries or even that of their comrades, even from certain death, and they can even heal or kill with a mere touch. A Tatsuyama can steal the life force of others to extend their own lives. Frightening ability." She muttered.

"Well yes," said Madara uncomfortably. "There are a number in the village that are uncomfortable with the Tatsuyama clan here, but they don't hate them, _fortunately. _Tatsuyama Kyo is the clan heir, with the clan nearly dying out, as their clan members simply refused to marry, not wanting their offspring to suffer like how they did. It's a sad existence, for the Tatsuyama clan. Knowing that they can control Life and Death the way they did. They're the closest to being the Shinigami that humans can get."

**XXXXXX**

_Konohagakure no sato  
__Hi no kuni_

In the Hokage's office, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, looked at the number of jounins and chuunins assembled in his office. Even the retired Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hizuren, was present, as he played the role of advisor to Minato, and liked to sit in on meetings like this.

The golden haired Hokage had summoned all his high ranking ninjas for a briefing on the security, procedures and the proctors that were needed in the upcoming chuunin exams that would be held in Konoha, which was the exact reason why they are all here now.

"Alright, moving on…" said Minato, clearing his throat as he leafed through a number of papers on his desk, finally finding the one that he was searching for. "As per procedure and diplomacy rites, we have sent out chuunin examinations' invitations to every single ninja village. Iwa and Kumo turned down our invitations. And so did Kiri."

Namikaze nee Uzumaki Kushina, one of Konoha's top jounins as well as Minato's wife sighed. "As usual, huh?" The redhead ANBU captain sighed. "And I'm assuming that Tsuki rejected us as well?" She stated more than asked, since it is common knowledge to nearly every single ninja on the continent that they would never see Tsuki-nins participating in any chuunin exams but their own private ones, unless Ame is the host.

Minato frowned. "No. Not this time," he said, to the surprise of nearly every single ninja in the room. "Surprisingly, they accepted the invitation this year, and had stated that they would be sending in one genin team."

"_One _genin team?" Sarutobi Asuma questioned with surprise. "That's a surprise. Most ninja villages send a minimum of at least three genin teams to the chuunin examinations, unless they're from some of the smaller villages like Hoshi or Taki."

He lit his cigarette as he spoke, only to be interrupted by a polite cough from his Hokage. Asuma then sighed and crushed the cigarette in his bare hands, earning himself a cringe from both the Hokage and his father, along with several ninjas, before the bearded jounin threw the cigarette into the nearby trashcan.

"Ame would be participating this year as well." Hatake Sakumo piped up from his corner. "Yahiko-san sent word that he would be sending Nagato and Konan as his representatives." He smiled. "We still owe them for their help in the Hyuuga affair after all."

He got grim smiles from the jounins in the room, particularly those of Hyuuga origin. About nine years ago, Yahiko had sent Nagato and Konan to Konoha for a diplomacy meeting for border relations. And as it happens, their visit clashes with the visit of the Hyuuga diplomats who were visiting Konoha at that time. Thus, Minato had to postpone his meeting with the two Ame delegates.

Nagato and Konan were very well mannered about it, and had taken it in their stride. Probably, the fact that Jiraiya had been present in Konoha at that time had to do with it, as the three of them were doing plenty of catching up in a bar on the night when the Kumo delegates were meeting with the Hokage. And as luck would have it, their meeting with their sensei had carried on until the wee hours of the night, and as Nagato and Konan both made their way back to the inn that they were staying in, they came across a Kumo-nin trying to kidnap the three year old Hyuuga heiress.

_Trying _being the key word here, as Konan, being a woman, didn't take kindly to kidnappers. The kidnapper was subdued and knocked out even before the Hyuuga twins; Hyuuga Hizashi and Hyuuga Hiashi came around the corner. Needless to say, Minato was _furious _when he found out about it, and the Raikage got a tongue lashing from the furious Yondaime Hokage when the Raikage had tried to demand compensation for Konoha attacking his ninjas.

Minato had actually coldly threatened Kumo with war if they tried to bring the issue any further, knowing quite well that Kumo can't afford to fight another war right now. Nagato and Konan have helped in that regard, stating that they're the ones who have stopped the Kumo-nin, and as they're technically Ame delegates as well, there is nothing that the Raikage could do but swallow his pride and apologise.

Ever since then however, the relations between Kumo and Konoha have been pretty strained, particularly with the Hyuuga clan. Tsuki had apparently gotten themselves involved in this affair back then as well, as Minato had heard from Yahiko that Kumo had demanded for their assistance in a war against Konoha. Apparently, the Tsukikage had gotten fed-up, and had told them that if there is a side that Tsuki must take in a war, it definitely wouldn't be Kumo's. And if the Raikage pushed them any further, they'll stop all trade relations with Kumo.

That had gotten Kumo to back off, as no village wants their trade relations with Tsuki to stop, as Tsuki no kuni is the only nation in the entire continent that grew flowers and herbs with wonderful healing properties, along with being bountiful with mining materials. Minato was thankful to Tsuki, and had said as such, as even he doesn't want to fight against Tsuki, a village known to be at the top in terms of sealing techniques. And he, as a seals master, knew just how dangerous a seals user could be in terms of combat.

"Hiashi-sama and Hizashi-sama would like to have a meal with them once they've arrived, I'm sure," said a Hyuuga jounin. After the Hyuuga affair, Hiashi and Hizashi have both taken the opportunity to abolish the Elder Council in the Hyuuga clan, and had united the clan as one with Minato's help, as the Hokage had grown up with the twins, and knew that they've never liked the Caged Bird Seal. "Along with the Tsuki representatives. We never had a chance to properly thank them back then after all."

"Well, I'm sure that things could be arranged," said Minato with a smile. "It also says in the letter from the Tsukikage that he would be sending one of his best ninjas as a representative here. Well, moving on…" Minato glanced at the papers in his hands to his ninjas. "Now to the nomination of teams. As you know, any genin who had done a minimum of 20 D-rank missions are eligible to attend the chuunin exams. Asuma. Kakashi. Kurenai. Step forward." The three mentioned jounins did so. "Do any of you three wish to nominate your teams? We'll start from Kakashi."

Kakashi formed a half-ram seal under his chin and said in a somewhat bored tone. "I, Hatake Kakashi, jounin instructor of genin cell seven, consisting of Namikaze Takara, Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke and Katou Aoi (1). Under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I hereby nominate all three to attend the chuunin exams."

Asuma followed Kakashi's example by forming a half-ram seal under his chin. "I, Sarutobi Asuma, jounin instructor of genin cell ten. I hereby nominate Nara Shika (2), Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino to attend the chuunin exams."

Kurenai was the last, and she followed the examples of the other two jounins by forming a half-ram seal under her chin. "I, Yuuhi Kurenai, jounin instructor of genin cell eight. I hereby nominate Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata to attend the chuunin exams under the name of Yuuhi Kurenai."

There were outbursts of mutterings from just about everyone currently assembled in the Hokage's office. Rookies hadn't been appointed to attend the chuunin exams for at least thirty years after all. Umino Iruka stepped forward just then, a look of panic on the Academy instructor's face.

"Hokage-sama, I must object to this!" said Iruka urgently. "Forgive my impudence for speaking out of turn, but those genins that were just nominated were once my students!"

"That's what you've just said, Iruka-san," said Kakashi calmly, burrowing his nose into his book. "They aren't your students anymore but my soldiers."

Maito Gai frowned from his position. "But still, isn't it a little early for you to nominate your teams?" he asked, for once not shouting about 'youth'. "Even I waited for at least a year before nominating my team." The spandex clad jounin then turned towards Minato. "Hokage-sama, genin cell nine under Maito Gai, consisting of Hyuuga Kisuke (3), Rock Lee and Higurashi Tenten. I hereby nominate these three genins to attend the chuunin exams."

"Iruka, I trust their opinions." Hatake nee Hanesawa (formerly Haruno) Sakura interrupted, putting one hand on the shoulder of the worried chuunin whom she had taken care of for some time after the demise of his parents during the Kyuubi attack. "They wouldn't have nominated their teams if they didn't think that they're ready."

Kakashi nodded gratefully to his stepmother for this support, and Sakura nodded back silently. Sakumo smiled before noting a worried look in Katou Dan's eyes for his son entering the chuunin exams as a rookie. Minato then cleared his throat once more for silence.

"Alright, I'll grant all four nominated genin teams the permission to enter the chuunin exams," said the blonde Hokage. He then glanced around the room at the other jounins who have genin teams. "Now, are there any other jounin instructors who wished to enter their teams?"

**XXXXXX**

_Amekage's Office  
__Amegakure no sato_

"Yahiko, letter from Tsuki," said Nagato, entering the office after a brief knock to announce his presence, only to see Yahiko's desk half-buried in paperwork, with Konan assisting the orange haired man with the paperwork. "Madara-san finally relented to allow one genin team to participate in the chuunin exams. But for obvious reasons, only Seina-san would be going as a Tsuki delegate. Sayo-san is now investigating Raven's Gate and the new Oto village. We should probably get word from her soon."

Yahiko nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it's better than nothing," he muttered. He glanced at Nagato. "You know what to do once you get to Konoha."

Nagato nodded. "I know."

"Don't worry, I'll be with him, Yahiko," said Konan reassuringly. "Besides, Nagato can take care of himself."

Yahiko sighed. "I hope that I'm just reading too much into things," he muttered.

**XXXXXX**

_Training Ground Nine  
__Konohagakure no sato_

"Hey, did you guys hear?" said a boy wearing green spandex, leaning against a wooden post in the training grounds. "I've heard some jounins talking about the three rookie teams attending the upcoming chuunin exams."

"Really?" drawled a girl with a buns-hairstyle, twirling kunais in her hand. "It's probably some jounins having bets with each other. It happens all the time."

"I somehow doubt that," said the spandex wearing boy. "I mean… I heard that the Copy-Nin's team is entering as well."

"Hatake Kakashi's team?" said a third voice, the owner smirking slightly as he did so. "Interesting…"

"Well…either way, it's all the same to me," said the kunoichi as she walked a few meters away from her teammates, twirling her kunais and then launching them so fast that they weren't even seen. All the kunais struck the bull's eye on the dummy that the second boy was seated under.

He hadn't even blinked.

**XXXXXX**

_Tsukikage's Office  
__Tsukigakure no sato_

Sayo sighed. "I hope that I'm just reading too much into things, but I got a bad feeling about this," she told Madara who looked particularly concerned. "I'm going to go investigate some leads that I've gotten on Raven's Gate as well as the site where I've sealed Hiore away. Also, Orochimaru had informed me of some rumours regarding some guy named Kakuzu."

Madara narrowed his eyes. "Kakuzu…" he trailed off. "Not the same Kakuzu that we've fought back in Shometsu Village during the shinobi clan wars?"

Sayo sighed and nodded. "The very same," she said. "It's not a very common name after all." She frowned. "So he survived." She mused. "Well, I'm not surprised. That immortality technique that he'd attempted back then had a good chance of succeeding if he fulfilled all the requirements. But if the rumours are to be believed, and from our brief encounter with him back then, he is part of Raven's Gate as well."

Madara frowned. "Then there is a good chance that we might end up facing him again," he stated, and Sayo nodded. He then sighed. "How _troublesome."_

* * *

_A/N: Okay, so it's a pretty short chapter this time around. Rather like the interlude into the chuunin examinations. And in case you guys are confused about the team listings, I'm going to state them at the bottom. The genins from Ame probably wouldn't be appearing much in the story, as it's a severe __**pain **__making up OCs. Well, depending on how I take my story, they probably wouldn't be coming in much at all._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_

(1) The Haruno clan won't be appearing in this story. Instead, Sakura's replacement in the original team seven will be Katou Aoi, Dan and Tsunade's son.

(2) The name of Shikamaru's counterpart in this universe

(3) The name of Neji's counterpart in this universe

_Konoha Genin Teams:_

_Genin Team 7  
_Jounin instructor: Hatake Kakashi  
Namikaze Takara  
Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke  
Katou Aoi

_Genin Team 8  
_Jounin instructor: Yuuhi Kurenai  
Aburame Shino  
Inuzuka Kiba  
Hyuuga Hinata

_Genin Team 9  
_Jounin instructor: Maito Gai  
Hyuuga Kisuke  
Rock Lee  
Higurashi Tenten

_Genin Team 10  
_Jounin instructor: Sarutobi Asuma  
Nara Shika  
Akimichi Chouji  
Yamanaka Ino

_Tsukigakure's Genin Team:_

_Genin Team 10  
_Jounin instructor: Momochi Zabuza  
Yukina Haku  
Sasaki Rihan  
Tatsuyama Kyo


	24. Enter, the Genins of Tsukigakure no Sato

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Four: Enter, the Genins of Tsukigakure no Sato**

The day before the chuunin exams actually commence had Konoha receiving several visitors – the majority of them examinees. But the chuunin exam that year had most of the ninjas of Konoha excited, as this will be the first time that Tsuki had actually sent genins for participation.

Despite being one of the great six, Tsuki is by far, the most mysterious of the lot, as no one knew who their Tsukikage is, the strength of their ninjas, where their village is, what techniques they use. None at all. And unlike all the other villages of the great six, Tsuki had never actually participated in any of the shinobi wars at all, though none of the other villages were naïve and stupid enough to believe that they're weak. If they are skilled enough to hide the location of their village away from prying eyes for all these years, and being such a mystery ever since the time of the Second Great Shinobi War, then they are bound to be skilled.

Furthermore, any other ninjas who tried to enter the lands of Tsuki no kuni always found themselves caught and surrounded within moments, no matter how hard that they tried to hide themselves. And up to this day, no one even knew just how Tsuki does it. Furthermore, it is well-known that Tsuki specialises in seals, and there were rumours that their skills in sealing as well as medical ninjutsu is enough to make any seal master and even the legendary medic Tsunade drool in envy.

Hence, that afternoon, the two Konoha chuunin guards on duty at Konoha's front gates – Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, perked up after allowing a disgruntled team from Oto entry. Apparently, that team wasn't happy with just how much paperwork that they have to fill out just to enter the village.

A group of foreign ninjas were approaching the front gates of Konoha, strolling along casually as if they do not have a care in the world. None of them were carrying any backpacks with them, and even the tallest in the group – a male jounin, only had a sword strapped to his back. There were two senior ninjas whom Kotetsu assumed were the jounins – one was a male jounin whilst the other is a dark haired female nearly two and a half heads shorter than him. And there were three young ninjas with them whom Kotetsu assumed were the genins.

The team from Ame had just reported in less than an hour ago, and had informed the chuunins at the gate that the team from Tsuki would be at Konoha anytime soon.

The tall male Tsuki jounin was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt with a black sleeveless vest over it, with grey cargo pants and black ninja sandals, with black fingerless gloves on his hands. Bandages were also concealing the bottom part of his face, and he had his hitai-ate tied around his forehead. The other jounin was petite looking and small in size, but Kotetsu knew better than to underestimate a kunoichi. After all, Yugao is a woman and looks as if she wouldn't hurt a fly, yet she is one of the deadliest ANBUs that Konoha has to offer, and could easily kick his ass.

The female Tsuki jounin had raven black hair just reaching a little past her shoulders, with dark eyes. She had on a white T-shirt with a black sleeveless vest worn over it, and with black shorts that just reaches to her thighs. Like her male companion, she had on black ninja sandals as well, but she had bandages bound around her ankles and the soles of her feet. She had her hitai-ate tied around her neck, and it is a little difficult to notice because of her hitai-ate, but she also had a black choker around her neck, with a silver cross pendant hanging from it.

The three genins with them were looking at the gates of Konoha with interest and some curiosity in their eyes. The only female kunoichi genin had raven black hair reaching just a little past her shoulder blades with grey eyes, and she had a light pink battle kimono on, with black shorts worn beneath it for modesty. A pair of curved blades was concealed cleverly in a black sash tied around her waist, the blades resting against her back. A medic pack could also be seen around her waist, next to the standard ninja pack that every ninja has, with her kunai pouch tied around her right thigh. A pair of white wristbands could be seen around both wrists, and a black ribbon was tied around her neck – a little difficult to see because of her hitai-ate that is also tied around her neck.

The more serious-looking male genin whom Kotetsu assumed was the genin leader of the trio was looking on with a bored expression, yet the chuunin wasn't fooled, as he noted the sharp and intelligent look in the genin's eyes. The male genin was at least half a head taller than the kunoichi genin, and he had silver hair that fell just a little below his ears, falling down around his face, with dark blue eyes. A black choker with a blade pendant hung from around his neck, and he had his hitai-ate tied around his left arm. He was wearing a storm-grey T-shirt with black cargo pants, a beige jacket tied around his waist. A nodachi hung from a grey cloth holster on his back, and he wore black ninja sandals on his feet, and fingerless gloves on his hands.

The other male genin was more cheerful looking, with golden-blonde hair tied in a short ponytail at his nape, with the hair reminding Kotetsu of his Hokage. Though unlike the Hokage, this genin had the most curious shade of eyes – with the colour in a mix between red and orange. He was dressed in a deep red T-shirt with black cargo pants and a black jacket with silver zippers worn over it. His hitai-ate was tied around his forehead, and along with the standard ninja packs that every ninja has, he also had a few bamboo tubes attached to the belt around his waist.

Izumo had also obviously noticed the Tsuki team approaching them, as he had turned towards them after having finished dealing with the disgruntled Oto team. "Halt!" he called out, the visitor logbook in hand. "Who goes there?"

The group of five ninjas stopped at the gates, and the male jounin took out a scroll bearing the seal of Tsukigakure, and handed it to Izumo. The brunette chuunin opened the scroll and read it, glancing up every now and again at the Tsuki-nins. He finally nodded and wrote something in the visitor logbook before producing a clipboard from out of nowhere and handed it to the male jounin.

"Please fill the form in, thank you," he said politely, and which the male Tsuki jounin handed to the female jounin to fill in. Izumo then smiled. "May I see your passports please?"

The five Tsuki-nins produced their passports from their pockets silently, which kind of unnerved the two Konoha chuunins. None of the Tsuki-nins have said a single word ever since their arrival at the front gates.

"May I have your names, please?" Izumo asked, pausing in his scribbling in the visitor logbook, and looking up at the five ninjas, with the male jounin looking rather annoyed.

A jab in his ribs by his female companion shut him up before he grumbled something and muttered his name, "Momochi Zabuza. Jounin instructor of these brats."

If the two Konoha chuunins were unnerved at having Momochi Zabuza at their gates and in front of them, they didn't show it.

The silver haired genin looked at his jounin instructor with annoyance on his face at being addressed as a brat. "Sasaki Rihan."

"…Yukina Haku." The kunoichi genin gave a short bow.

"Tatsuyama Kyo! Nice to meet you!" The cheerful blonde genin chirped.

"I'm the Tsukikage's delegate for the chuunin exams until he could arrive in person." The female jounin stated. "Though I'm not sure if he can pull himself away from the village for now." She trailed off. The jounin then cleared her throat and looked at Izumo, a small smile tugging at the ends of her lips, though that smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Tsukishiro Seina. Jounin delegate of Tsukikage-sama himself. Nice to meet you."

**XXXXXX**

In the local barbeque restaurant of Konoha, Yakiniku Q, Nara Shika was bored out of his mind and looking out of the window to amuse himself, waiting for his best friend, Akimichi Chouji to finish his twentieth helping of barbequed meat, and trying to shut out Ino's senseless screeching. He swore that if her voice reach any higher, the windowpanes of the restaurant will break soon.

Two of team seven's genins – Namikaze Takara and Katou Aoi were joining them for lunch after a hard training session. Their other teammate, Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke had headed home for lunch instead, as it is a rare occasion when both his adoptive parents were home, and _not _out on some mission (Sakumo), or at the hospital tending to some emergency case (Sakura).

And it is as Nara Shika was staring out of the window, looking for something interesting to amuse himself with when he saw a group of genins around his age stopping in the middle of the marketplace, talking to the two older ninjas with them – jounins by the looks of things. The two jounins then turned and walked into the opposite direction as the three genins talked amongst themselves. A group of three Ame genins approached them just then – apparently, all six knew each other, as they were talking and laughing together.

Shika frowned, wondering who the first three genins were, as he glanced at their hitai-ates. He definitely didn't remember seeing any village with that symbol on their hitai-ate before. "Hey Takara, Aoi, which village do you think those three came from?" Shika cut in the middle of Ino's argument with Chouji.

Takara and Aoi who were amusing themselves with watching their friends having another one of their arguments over food turned towards the Nara. Takara is practically a carbon copy of her mother, only she had golden edges to her hair, whilst Aoi is practically a copy of his father when he was young, only with golden eyes. And unlike his father, Aoi kept his hair to shoulder length, and tied his hair in a ponytail.

Takara and Aoi both blinked owlishly at Shika's question, before following his finger towards the genins whom he was pointing at – all three who were currently catching up on events or the latest news with their Ame friends. The two genins blinked when they saw the symbol on their hitai-ates. As Takara is the daughter of the Hokage, and Aoi had grown up with her, also being the son of Konoha's head medic and the jounin commander, they both tend to learn lots of things that most normal genins wouldn't know.

Takara blinked slowly when she noticed the symbol on the hitai-ate. It wasn't a symbol that she see often on the hitai-ates of the foreign delegates that often came to see her father, but it is one that she had seen before in books that her father had bought for her to train her in diplomacy as the Hokage's daughter. Aoi had been the heir to both the Katou and Senju clans, and as such, he had sat through the same diplomacy and politics' lessons that she had sat through as well.

"Oh." Takara exchanged looks with Aoi before turning back towards her lazy friend. "That's the symbol of Tsukigakure no sato."

Shika nearly choked on his tea. "T-Tsuki? That mysterious village of the great six?" he questioned.

Aoi nodded. "Yeah. The only village out of the great six that _never _sends any of their genins to chuunin exams unless it's in their own village, or if the chuunin exams are being held in Ame. Ame is an ally of Tsuki. And from what I've heard from my parents, Konoha had been trying to get an alliance with Tsuki for years now, ever since the reign of the Sandaime Hokage. But as it is difficult to even get a glimpse of their Tsukikage, it isn't exactly going well. And Mum told me that Tsuki isn't fond of Konoha either, for unknown reasons. This is the first public chuunin exam that Tsuki had ever participated in. Hence, the large turnout of genins from other villages. Everyone is curious to know and also to witness for themselves just what Tsuki-nins are capable of."

"Dad told me that they'd be coming today." Takara stated. "And unlike most villages, Tsuki only sent one team to participate in the chuunin exams. Even Suna sent two teams to participate. Dad told me not to underestimate the genins from Tsuki, as that village is famous and well known for their skills in sealing. And until now, no one even knew just what techniques that they're capable of, and what they can do. That's why everyone is so interested in them. They've been quite the mystery for years after all." She added.

Ino frowned. "I've never seen them around before, though I think Iruka-sensei did mention them in history class at one time."

"Well, they're not the most mysterious village of the great six for nothing." Aoi added tiredly. "Dad told me that they interfered in the Hyuuga affair several years ago when Kumo accused Konoha of breaking the treaty. They tried to demand reparation at that time, or we'll go to war. Ame bailed us out of trouble at that time, and I heard from Dad that Tsuki got themselves involved as well, though we didn't learn of it until at least two years later when Nagato-san came to Konoha."

"And no one is allowed in Tsuki no kuni, sans for their own people." Takara added. "It doesn't matter what they try. Tsuki will always know that they're in their lands. And until today, no one even knows the exact location of their ninja village. Their advancements in medic ninjutsu and surgery, as well as sealing techniques, are enough to make any medic and seal master drool."

"And it's also because they're so mysterious that everyone wanted to find out more about them. Hence the turnout for the chuunin exams this year." Aoi added. "Dad told me that Tsuki is supposed to be right up there in strength with Konoha. Probably even stronger. No one knows for sure, as unlike the other villages of the great six, they've never gotten themselves involved in wars and conflicts. You can say that they're one of the neutral villages, and they're always there as peacemaker whenever political conflicts break out. Though depending on the situation, they don't always involve themselves in matters like that."

"No way! Konoha is the strongest!" Ino protested.

Takara shrugged. "Well, seeing as how no one had ever engaged a Tsuki-nin in battle before, we don't know that for sure," she said. "Or there has been cases of Tsuki-nins engaging other ninjas in battle before, but they never lived to tell about it. And it is said that Tsuki has never failed a single mission before. Even their genins are each as skilled as an experienced chuunin." She exchanged looks with Aoi. "Well, we'll know for sure once the chuunin exams commences."

**XXXXXX**

"You think it's a good idea for the other ninjas to see that the ninjas of Ame and Tsuki are all chummy?" Nagato asked hesitantly as the four jounins of Ame and Tsuki respectively were currently gathered in a cubicle in some restaurant of Konoha, having their lunch.

The jounins have parted ways with their genins earlier, trusting that they are each cool headed enough and also old enough to know their manners, and to know what they can and can't do in foreign territory. They have also told the genins the location of the hotel that they're staying in, and have told them to come back before dark, as the genins wanted to do some exploring on their own before the exams the next day.

"Well, it isn't exactly a secret that Ame and Tsuki are allies, are they?" Seina asked tiredly. "I wanted to see just what the village that Sayo and Madara have helped create is like with my own eyes. Even if they didn't send me as Tsuki delegate, I would have insisted on coming." She lowered her voice so that only the three jounins with her can hear her. "And so far, I'm not impressed with what I saw. I can understand just why they left in the first place."

"Yahiko told us to be wary of the Kiri ninjas." Konan informed Seina who nodded. "I heard that they're still in the middle of a civil war. And their Yondaime Mizukage isn't happy with Tsuki for 'poaching' two of his Seven Swordsmen. He and their daimyo can't really do anything, especially with the daimyos and kages of Tsuki no kuni and Amegakure speaking up for those two."

"I'm more worried about what would happen here in a month." Zabuza admitted. "Sayo-sama told us that she'll investigate. But I'm still worried." He added, frowning slightly.

**XXXXXX**

"I think it's that way." Rihan pointed in some random direction.

"No. It's this way." Kyo insisted, pointing in the opposite direction.

Haku rolled her eyes in annoyance before grabbing the arms of both her teammates. "Let's just say it. We're lost, aren't we?" she asked, annoyed, and the flushes on the faces of both her teammates answered her question. "Great. We should have asked Jun and the other two the directions of the hotel before we parted ways earlier. And I'm _not_ asking any Leaf citizens for directions! They're sure to keep us talking." She added sourly.

The dislike of the Leaf village by most of the higher ups of Tsuki – even the members of Team Uruha – the legendary team led by their Tsukikage's wife, seemed to have passed down the ranks of Tsuki. The three Tsuki genins have eaten at some eatery with their Ame friends, and they weren't pleased with having some of the people there asking about their village. Don't they understand what it means by 'it's a village secret'? Not a single person in Tsuki would betray their own village. They would rather commit seppuku.

"Hey! That hurts, shorty!"

"What's going on over there?" Rihan wondered, turning towards the direction of where the angered shout had came from.

"Let's go see." Kyo suggested before walking towards the source of the sound, and the three Tsuki-nins soon found a small brunette boy around the age of seven or eight struggling against a Suna ninja's hold, whilst the Suna kunoichi with him was looking at him with annoyance and irritation written all over her face.

The two friends of the small boy were shouting at the Suna ninja, and there were even two Leaf genins present at the scene, trying to stop this matter from escalating any further. The Suna ninja who was holding the small boy had on a black outfit that reminds all three Tsuki-nins of some cat.

"And here I thought that Obito-san's sense of fashion is bad." Rihan muttered to his teammates who were snickering away. He then raised his voice. "Oi! What do you think that you're doing?" The two Suna-nins noticed them just then, and the Suna kunoichi narrowed her eyes as she noticed their hitai-ates and elbowed her companion in the side. "Let the boy down." The other Suna-nin grumbled as he released the boy who promptly ran and hid behind the redheaded Leaf kunoichi present at the scene who reminds all three Tsuki-nins of their Tsukikage's wife.

There were several differences among them definitely. The age and height differences for one. And unlike this girl, Sayo-sama had golden highlights through her hair instead, and her eyes aren't the colour of sky blue. It is more like a deep dark blue – almost the colour of stormy skies. But apart from that, this Leaf kunoichi could almost be a copy of their Tsukikage's wife.

"Suna-nins?" Kyo muttered, scratching the back of his head as he stared at the two. "Rihan, Haku, didn't sensei and Seina-san say something about one of the two Suna teams participating in the chuunin exams?"

"Yeah, the team that comprises of the current Kazekage's children." Rihan nodded, not taking his eyes off of the two Suna-nins who have tensed up.

"I think that Seina-san said something about them yesterday during dinner." Haku frowned, tapping her chin as she scrunched her forehead. "Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro, I think." She said slowly, trying to remember the names out of all the several different names that the two Tsuki jounins have mentioned. "The siblings of Sabaku no Gaara."

Kyo blinked. "Oh. _That_ guy," he said. "That _Ichibi _guy, right?" he said, grinning at the two nervous Suna-nins who looked at them with horror. He then glanced up the nearby tree. "Is that redhead up there him?

A few moments later, a figure appeared in a swirl of sand next to the two Suna genins. Haku said nothing, but she felt a tad bit nervous at the dark feel in the newcomer's chakra. As her team's medic and sensor, she is more sensitive to the changes of nature and chakra, compared to the other two.

"G-Gaara!"

"You're their leader, I assume?" Rihan stated, directing this question to Gaara who narrowed his eyes dangerously, but nodded curtly. "Keep an eye on your team. I don't think that you want to be thrown out even before the exams have begun." He then turned to walk away. "Come on, let's go, you guys. We still have to find the hotel."

"Wait." Gaara called out, and the three Tsuki-nins stopped in their tracks, turning to look over their shoulders at the clearly insomniac Suna-nin. "What are your names?"

The three Tsuki-nins exchanged looks between themselves, with Kyo raising a questioning eyebrow, Haku looking between their two groups, and Rihan sighed and shrugged one shoulder. An unasked question answered in a matter of few moments. Team Ten of Tsukigakure had always been right there at the top when it comes to communication and teamwork. They could actually have been made chuunin or even jounin by now, but Zabuza wanted them to have the experience before advancing in rank.

"From Tsukigakure no sato, Yukina Haku," said Haku politely, half turning in her step to face the three Suna-nins.

"The same, Sasaki Rihan," said Rihan curtly.

"Tatsuyama Kyo." Kyo stated.

"Are you here for the chuunin exams?" Gaara questioned, a brief look of interest on his face, and the three Tsuki-nins exchanged looks between themselves.

"That's right. So we'll see you again during the exams," said Rihan politely, playing the role of mediator. Even though all three Tsuki genins were trained somewhat in diplomacy, Rihan had been the heir to one of Tsuki's oldest clans; the legendary swordsman clan, and he had been trained in diplomacy and politics ever since he was old enough to hold a sword. He then gestured with his head. "Let's go." He commanded, and the other two Tsuki genins obeyed immediately, falling into step beside Rihan.

From behind the Suna trio, Takara's eyes widened when she caught the quick flash of the cork on the oversized gourd of that Gaara kid popping off, with sand flying out of it faster than the eye could see, flying towards the back of the silver haired Tsuki genin whom Takara had assumed was the leader.

"Watch out!" she shouted in warning, and the three Tsuki genins turned in their step, a look of shock and bewilderment on each of their faces.

There was even a slight insane look on Gaara's face, if anyone cared to look. But at this point in time, no one was even looking _at _Gaara, as they were more preoccupied with the sand that was _all around them._

Within the few scant moments before the sand could wrap the three Tsuki genins in it's midst, several things happened immediately.

Rihan who was about to reach for his sword raised an eyebrow as Kyo placed himself in between the sand and his teammates, a semi-dark look on his face. Rihan who had been Kyo's best friend since early childhood and knew of the reputation of his clan smirked. He knew that look on Kyo's face.

Kyo put out a hand simply, and to the shock of all watching ninjas, especially the Suna-nins, the sand was deflected by a seemingly invisible force, and without any warning, the sand simply collapsed, particles of gravel and silt trickling slowly to the ground.

The faces of Temari and Kankuro were almost comical to watch, as this is the first time that they've seen someone stop Gaara's sand that is believed to be _invincible. _Gaara's face was one of shock, as he had never seen anyone stop his sand before, and actually _succeed._

This is something thought to be impossible. _Nothing _could have stopped his sand, nothing!

As the redheaded Suna-nin tried to resume his control over his sand once more, the silver haired Tsuki-nin from earlier spoke. "I'll advise you to stop," he stated curtly, and every single pair of eyes was focused on him. Rihan's dark blue eyes were flashing in warning, and he had one hand resting on the hilt of the nodachi on his back. "It's pointless. Your sand and your techniques are useless against Kyo."

Gaara turned his attention towards the blonde in the Tsuki team. He had first dismissed the blonde teen as someone of no importance because of that cheeky look on his face, and had turned his focus onto the more serious-looking silver haired leader of that trio. Apparently, he had misjudged the danger level of the blonde, and from the looks of things, he is _far_ more dangerous than that silver haired boy. He has to be, to be able to stop his sand with seemingly no effort at all, and Gaara has completely no idea how he had even done it!

The look on Tatsuyama Kyo's face and eyes has completely changed. If Gaara didn't know any better, he'll think that someone else had taken control of Kyo's body. Gone was the mischievous and cheeky expression on his face. His eyes were now cold and shining like gimlets, glowing red slightly.

"If you want a fight, at least wait until the chuunin exams." Haku cut in. "We're in foreign territory, and it wouldn't do to get thrown out of the exams for fighting." She glanced at her teammates. "Let's go."

Rihan nodded, but Kyo's eyes flashed dangerously, and he pulled his other hand out of his pocket slowly, clenching it slowly into a fist. And it could have been Gaara's imagination, but he could have sworn that the temperature of the surroundings had dropped several degrees.

"Kyo." Rihan stated firmly, grabbing his arm, and forcing the blonde to look at him in the eye. "You _promised." _He emphasized the word. "You _promised _Sayo-sama that you wouldn't go out of control again. That's why she finally relented to let you on a genin team. Do you want to go back into captivity again?"

Kyo frowned before he jerked his arm out of Rihan's hold and stuffed both his hands into his pockets. The eerie feeling from before faded away as soon as it had begun, and the blonde then turned around, his back facing the Suna-nins as well as the two shocked Leaf-nins.

"Let's go," said Rihan, and Haku nodded. The three Tsuki-nins then walked down the road, and soon disappeared from view.

"What the hell…was that?" Kankuro finally managed to find his voice nearly an entire minute after the Tsuki-nins have disappeared from view. "What did that guy just do? He stopped Gaara's sand… That's impossible!"

"And not only that, they seemed to know about him." Temari added, glancing at her youngest brother fearfully. What kind of monster is that other guy, to be able to stop her youngest brother's attack so effortlessly?

Gaara frowned before focusing his control over his sand once more, stuffing it back into his gourd, and forming another cock to stuff the lid. "We're leaving," he ordered, and the two Suna-nins nodded and fell into step behind him.

"Looks like there are going to be a lot of strong guys in the chuunin exams." Aoi said, finding his voice at long last, and Takara nodded slowly.

Something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention just then, and Takara turned only to have her eyes widening in shock at the sight of the tree by the side of the pathway that they were standing on. A tree that just a few moments ago, had been a healthy and fresh pine tree is now nothing more than a withered husk of a tree – almost like the tree had been dead for _months._

Takara frowned. _'That guy from Tsuki…' _she thought, clenching her hands into fists in her pockets to stop her hands from trembling. _'What did he just do? And I know that I've heard the name Tatsuyama before…'_


	25. Forest of Trials

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Five: Forest of Trials**

_Morigaki Inn  
__Tori no kuni_

Sayo frowned as she listened to the dial tone of the telephone, and waited for someone to pick up the phone on the other end of the line, drumming her fingers repeatedly on the reception counter of the inn.

It practically amazed her how some ninja villages could be so _old fashioned _and insisted on keeping their old traditions of using bird messengers, quills and scrolls when the rest of the world had moved on long ago, and were now using telephones in place of bird messengers, and pens and notebooks in place of quills and scrolls. Sure, Tsuki still uses eagle or hawk messengers for communication when their ninjas were out on the field, and they uses quills and scrolls for sealing purposes, but still, they _do_ have some modern technology in their village as well, unlike majority of the ninja villages these days.

The Tsuki genin team had set off for Konoha nearly five days ago with Seina and their jounin instructor to participate in the chuunin examinations, and Sayo had also left Tsuki around the same time, feeling a tad bit worried about the recent news that they've received from Ame about Raven's Gate and the weird bodies that Yahiko's ninjas have been discovering around Ame's borders.

Finally, the call was picked up, and Sayo recognised the owner of the voice as one of the office ninjas that worked in the Tsukikage Tower. When Madara and Sayo have first founded Tsukigakure no sato, the first thing that they did before the _actual building _is to decide on the village system.

From her time as head tactician in Konoha, especially after the war, Sayo knew just how irritated and fed up that Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage, had gotten with the endless piles of paperwork that he had to read and sign on a daily basis. That unfortunately often happened during peacetime, though most of the time, ninety percent of the paperwork are usually mundane stuff or just minor issues that doesn't require the Hokage's signature and time.

Thus, to stop her husband from going on a rampage, as Sayo knew just how impatient that Madara can get at times, the redhead had created a new position otherwise known as 'office ninjas'. Those ninjas usually consist of ninjas that had never risen above chuunin rank, or weren't even considered strong enough to be sent out on the field. Civilians with minor ninja training, usually those that are born in ninja families, or civilians who have failed the examinations at the ninja Academy are included as well. The jobs of office ninjas are to sort through the paperwork and only send the important stuff – stuff that actually requires Madara to look at them up to the Tsukikage's office.

Thus, unlike most kages, Madara actually had lots of free time to spend with his family, as he never had to deal with foreign diplomats, since the only alliance that Tsuki had at present is with Ame.

And Yahiko is a very independent type of leader. He never asks Tsuki for any help regarding any problems that he had with his country. When Nagato had asked him why once, he had answered that if he couldn't handle a problem that concerns his own country and village on his own, he don't deserve to be the head of Ame. In fact, Sayo could only recall one time when Yahiko had asked them for help – during the Bone Eater incident when several weird bodies were discovered near the borders of Ame.

Sayo sighed. "Hey Kou. Put me through to the Tsukikage, will you?" she asked politely, lowering her voice.

She is currently in the main lobby of the inn after all, and even though it's lunch hour now, with most of the inn's employees busy tending to their customers, she is not taking any chances. As a precaution, Sayo had actually set up a one way silencing barrier around her and the telephone – a barrier that allows her to hear everything going on around her, but not vice versa.

"_Sayo-sama?" _The bewildered voice of the office ninja that had picked up one of the few phones that Tsukigakure had echoed through the phone. Probably, the only place that had phones and other modern technology in Tsuki is the Tsukikage Tower, the Academies for both ninja and civilians as well as the MOON Headquarters (the equivalent of ANBU) and the hospital. _"Hang on a moment. I think that Tsukikage-sama is back in his office."_

There was another long dial tone before Madara picked up the phone. _"What is it?"_

Sayo sighed. "It's me," she said, and Madara's voice sounded alert and serious just then.

"_Sayo? What's wrong?"_

Sayo pinched the bridge of her nose. "Bad news, I'm afraid," she said wearily. "I've just been to Rice Field Country where Oto is rumoured to be at. I got a little worried about the rumours, and I had Orochimaru pass on some information that he had gotten from his spies. Madara, Oto is _definitely_ under Raven's Gate's rule. And from what Orochimaru could find out, they've been in existence for the past decade or so, though only fully functional as a ninja village sometime last year. We know better than anyone else just how long it can take to build a village and to keep it running after all."

Madara was silent for a long time before he spoke again. _"The exact location of their village?"_

"This, I'm not sure," said Sayo with a frown. "But what I can be certain is that the village of Otogakure isn't built on the surface. If it were, I would have found it long ago, especially since I've also gotten the help of my wolves when I'm in Rice Field Country. No." Sayo frowned. "The base is underground. And the leader of the new Oto village is _Kakuzu."_

Madara was silent for a very long time. _"So he's still alive." _He sounded reigned, and Sayo isn't surprised. They have never believed that the man is dead after all. Sayo knew the ritual that he had used back then – the immortality ritual that is performed via sacrifices. _He cannot be killed. _Not by the normal way, at least. _"Any news of the rumoured invasion that Nagato had told us about?"_

"Yeah. It's definitely not a rumour," said Sayo with a frown. "This invasion kind of benefits Raven's Gate as well. As they're looking for…something in Konoha."

Madara sounded as if he was frowning. _"Not that blasted 'key' to Hiore's seal that __**doesn't **__even exist in the first place?" _he groaned.

"No, I don't think so," said Sayo, serious. "I think that it's more of a 'someone'." She sighed. "I'm not too sure what to think of this though. Tell Seina and the others to be on their guard. I'll investigate more on my side. And I'm heading over to the site of the sealing now – the place where I've sealed Hiore away all those years ago." She frowned. "I'm a little worried. From the looks of things, Raven's Gate had already been on the move twelve years ago ever since the Kyuubi attack. And I don't know, but something seems a little off. I'm going to go check on the seal."

Madara was silent for several moments before he sighed. _"Got it. But be careful, alright?" _He sounded worried. _"I don't want you engaging any Raven's Gate's members in battle when we still don't know their full strength and their exact numbers. Also, I'm sending Team Uruha to investigate the exact details on the invasion on Konoha."_

Sayo frowned. "My team?" she echoed.

"_Yeah. You focus on Raven's Gate for now. Seina and Zabuza will be investigating what they could in Konoha. So far, we know that Suna is somehow involved in this. And even though Uruha is currently missing Seina, I think that they'll survive."_

Sayo frowned. "Well, if you say so," she said. She then frowned, a sudden thought arising. "By the way, are they even back from Nami no kuni yet?"

**XXXXXX**

_Training Ground Area 44  
__Konohagakure no sato_

The second part of the chuunin examinations is currently underway, with all genin teams that have qualified being given one scroll – an Earth or a Heaven scroll, and told to retrieve the scroll opposite of the one that they're given from an opposing team.

It is currently the first day of the five days that the genin teams have in the Forest of Death to find their scroll, and already, the Tsuki team is getting seriously annoyed.

In the four hours that they have spent in the forest, they have already frozen a Suna team that is _fortunately _not the team that they've encountered on their first day in Konoha (Haku), tied some senior Konoha genin team to a tree, but not before taking all their supplies, knocked out an Iwa genin team with some quick swordsmanship skills (Rihan), _and _ran into one of the two Oto teams that were sent here, and which Haku wasn't very gentle with by 'fossilising' them.

And after four hours in the forest, team ten of Tsukigakure had already acquired two Heaven scrolls and two Earth scrolls, along with the Heaven scroll that they were given prior to the start of the examination. And just as they were making their way towards the tower in the middle of the forest, being led by Haku who had a map of the forest with her, they were yet stopped _again _by another genin team. Only this time from Kumo.

Haku sighed, palming her forehead with frustration whilst Kyo and Rihan both simply looked annoyed. Like majority of the great six, Tsuki had never been fond of Kumo as well. The Hyuuga incident of Konoha that Kumo had somehow instigated back then had gotten Tsuki dragged in as well, and nearly every single ninja of Tsuki _was not pleased _when they heard how the Raikage had made demands to their Tsukikage. Ever since then, the relations between Tsuki and Kumo were shaky at best.

"We're sure popular, aren't we?" Rihan muttered, rolling his eyes skywards and muttering something irritable beneath his breath. Nearly twenty-five meters away from them, behind the bushes that surrounded the clearing that they were in, the silver haired swordsman could sense the presences of three genins spying on them. But for now, he didn't pay them any heed as he turned his attention towards the three Kumo genins standing in front of them.

The three Kumo genins in front of them seemed to be one of the senior genins taking the chuunin exams – maybe at least three to four years older than the Tsuki genins. And all three were rather large in both size and build, practically dwarfing the three rather petite and small Tsuki-nins.

Kyo nearly groaned. "Let's just get this over and done with so we can get to the tower and sleep!" he snapped. "I have a headache, and I just want some sleep."

Rihan turned towards his best friend, concern on his face. "You have control though?" he questioned, and Kyo rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Yes, I do," he muttered. "You needn't worry, Rihan. I have _control."_

"What do you three want from us?" Haku snapped, rubbing her temples, directing this question at the Kumo team in front of them. Even the patience of the ever patient kunoichi is running low, with just how many teams have 'ambushed' them during the past four or so hours that they have been in here.

"Your scroll." The middle Kuno genin who seemed to be the leader and also the largest in both build and size, and whom Rihan has silently nicknamed 'Hulk' stated. "Surrender your scroll and you will not be harmed. We're older than you after all. We're bound to be stronger."

Kyo's eye twitched dangerously. "Rihan, can I?" he questioned, flexing the fingers on his left hand.

Rihan groaned. "Do as you like," he said. "Tsuki has never been fond of Kumo anyway. And I don't like people who underestimate us just because of our rank or our age. Just make it fast." He sighed, cracking his neck. "I want to sleep."

Kumo Minion One grinned before flexing his fingers. "Let's just kill them!" he stated before forming a number of hand seals and sending a blast of white lightning towards the Tsuki genins. Kumo Minion Two followed his example; only his jutsu sent a horde of lightning bolts falling towards the Tsuki genins from overhead.

A loud explosion and a cloud of dust were thrown up as the two jutsus made contact.

* * *

Behind the bush, Inuzuka Kiba was covering Hyuuga Hinata's mouth to muffle her horrified scream. "Shh!" he hushed his teammate. "If they knew that we're here, we'll be dead. Besides…" Kiba glanced at the cloud of smoke and dust. "I doubt that will take those Tsuki-nins down so easily, if what Aoi and Takara have said is true."

Aburame Shino who had also been present when Aoi and Takara were telling the rest of the Rookie Nine about what they have seen the Tsuki genins done nodded.

* * *

"We did it!" Kumo Minion One cheered. "Not even Tsuki can stand against the might of my White Lightning."

Hulk narrowed his eyes as he dust cleared slowly. "No. Open your eyes, Jin. And look closely."

"What?"

The dust cleared completely just then, and the eyes of the three Kumo genins as well as the three hidden Leaf genins widened in shock when they saw that quite a crater had been formed when the two lightning jutsus had hit, but there isn't so much as a single scratch on the bodies of the three Tsuki genins. And now that Kiba stopped to look at them, they don't even look ruffled at all, and doesn't look as if they have been fighting.

Shino who is the most observant of the Konoha team could only barely detect the telltale signs of a chakra barrier surrounding the three Tsuki genins. And it is fairly impressive and a strong one, to be able to withstand the attack of two lightning jutsus at the same time.

Rihan sighed before slashing at the air with the middle and index fingers of his right hand, and there was a faint ripple of chakra in the air before he let the chakra barrier fall. "Kyo, finish it please," he said, and there was an underlying dark tone to his voice. His face betrayed nothing, but both his teammates could see the murderous intent in Rihan's eyes. "They seriously intend to kill us. I think we don't have to hold back any longer."

Kyo smirked darkly. "Gotcha," he said before taking one step forwards. "Put up level three spirit and chakra barriers." He pulled off his jacket before tossing it to Haku, with the dark haired kunoichi catching it easily. Hidden behind the bushes, Hinata blushed slightly at the sight of his toned biceps, despite the situation that they're currently in. Next to her, Shino frowned as he could see some seals just peeking out from beneath his shirtsleeves. What were those seals for? Kyo then narrowed his eyes as he flexed the fingers on both hands. "I'm going to go wild."

Rihan sighed. "On it," he said. "Haku, spirit barrier. I'll set up the chakra barrier."

Haku nodded before both genins then pulled out an empty scroll from their pack and pulled it opened with a light tug. As the scrolls unrolled itself, both genins then scribbled seals on the paper as it flew past them, and landed around the two of them in a perfect circle. The eyes of the three Leaf genins widened when they saw the complicated looking seals drawn and written in a matter of mere moments by two genins not much older than them.

Hulk whistled in appreciation. "Looks like the rumours about all Tsuki ninjas being well versed in seals are true," he said. "But your seals won't save you here."

Rihan smirked darkly. "We'll see about that," he said. "The seals are just here to protect us from Kyo's technique that he is about to unleash on you idiots. You see, when he goes wild, _nothing _can hold him back." He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "He's a Tatsuyama after all."

The eyes of all three Kumo genins widened at that statement before there was an explosion of dark chakra from the blonde kid in the Tsuki team, and the band holding his hair together in a ponytail was ripped and torn apart. The Leaf genins hidden in the bushes were actually knocked over with the blast of the impact, and Shino's bugs were actually shaking, with Akamaru whining and trembling in fear in Kiba's jacket.

And just as soon as it had begun, it was all over.

Shino was the first one to recover from the chakra blast, and when he peered through the bushes, every pore in his body went rigid, and his eyes widened in both shock and horror behind his shades. Now he understood why his bugs have went silent and refused to respond earlier.

What…is this power?

In a five meter radius around that blonde kid, every single bit of plant life had rotted and died. It is rather similar to a scene of that of a battlefield that Shino had only ever seen in his Academy textbooks depicting the Third Great Shinobi War. Shino then turned his attention towards where the three Kumo-nins were standing at before, and he froze in shock.

They were no longer _standing _there, it's true. But a pile of clothes that the Kumo team have been wearing were right where they were standing moments prior, with a Kumo hitai-ate above each pile of clothing.

'_W-What is that power?' _Shino thought to himself in horror. _'That guy… Is he even human?'_

Now the Aburame heir understood just why the other two Tsuki genins have put up that barrier. If they didn't do that, they would have suffered the same fate as their Kumo counterparts.

"Your control is improving, as is your power." Rihan nodded as Haku rolled up the two scrolls around them. He sighed. "We're going to have to learn a higher level of barrier to block out your ability though. Even level three is not enough, it looks like." He pointed down at his foot, and Kyo looked down only to see a dark patch of grass that had turned black. The plant life there had rotted away.

"Sorry." Kyo stated. "But looks like I've gotten Spirit Drain under control now. What scroll do they have?"

"Let's see…" Rihan approached the three piles of clothing and searching through each one for the scroll before he finally found it. "An Earth scroll." He showed it to his teammates before tossing it to Haku. "Catch!"

The dark haired girl caught it simply before stuffing it into the belt-sash around her waist, and the eyes of the Leaf team widened when they caught sight of at least five other scrolls in it.

"Let's get going to the tower." Kyo snapped. "I'm tired."

His two teammates said nothing about Kyo's irritancy or his snappishness. They knew that Kyo always get like that, and is also always especially in an angry mood after unleashing one of his 'Death techniques'. It is almost like he is bipolar, especially since the usual Kyo is normally very happy-go-lucky and cheerful.

Rihan nodded. "Let's get going," he said. "Kyo needs to rest, and so do the both of us." He then walked off, with Kyo following him, his bangs falling into his crimson eyes that kind of looked angry and scary to anyone who _isn't _his teammate. "Haku, come on!" Rihan called out as he disappeared behind…something that is once a cluster of bushes.

"I'm coming!" Haku called out to her two male teammates before she looked over her shoulder and towards the direction of where the Leaf team was hiding.

All three Leaf genins stiffened. Did she know that they're there?

Kiba cursed himself for the hundredth time for his stupid idea in spying on the Tsuki team. Hinata shook in fear as Haku slipped one hand into the belt-sash around her waist and blinked in confusion as the dark haired kunoichi pulled out two scrolls – one Heaven and one Earth. Haku then sighed and threw the two scrolls towards team eight of Konoha, with the scrolls landing neatly in front of them.

"Get going to the tower." Haku ordered, narrowing her eyes at the three hidden Leaf genins, though she can't see them. "And forget what you've seen here." With her piece said, Haku then turned and walked away, tracing her teammates' footsteps.

After what seemed like a long while, all three Leaf genins slumped down to the forest bed, taking in deep breaths. "I feel like this has just taken ten years off my life." Kiba admitted, shaking in fear.

Hinata nodded in agreement, though it is what one of the Tsuki genins have said earlier that bothers her.

_The seals are just here to protect us from Kyo's technique that he is about to unleash on you idiots. You see, when he goes wild, __**nothing**__ can hold him back. He's a Tatsuyama after all._

'_Tatsuyama…' _Hinata thought to herself, holding one hand to her chest, trying to slow down her rapidly beating heart. _'I know that I've heard that name somewhere before…' _She frowned. _'Maybe I should ask sensei, Aoi-kun or Takara-chan later. Tatsuyama…' _She mused. _'Where did I hear that name from again?'_

**XXXXXX**

"W-What are you doing?" Takara screamed at the weird hooded guy who had shown up from out of nowhere and had started beating team seven up. _Nothing _that they do could seem to beat him, and just as Sasuke was dashing towards him with a kunai, the man had simply caught Sasuke's wrist, and forced him to his knees, holding his arms behind him. "Aoi! Do something!"

Aoi tried to force himself to his feet, but he gritted his teeth in pain, nearly blacking out because of his five broken ribs, holding one hand to his side. He coughed out blood, nearly collapsing to his knees.

"W-What are you doing?" Sasuke hissed, and he then froze, as it is like his entire body was paralysed from whatever that guy had done. "O-Oi, what are you doing? Let me go!"

Over with Takara who had broken her ankle and could hardly move, as with her broken ankle and coupled with five broken ribs and a sprained left wrist, she isn't exactly in a condition to be moving about. The redhead looked on in horror as the hooded man moved away Sasuke's hair at the nape of his neck, and bit on his thumb, drawing blood. He then drew some weird symbols on Sasuke's neck.

"Release!" The hooded man muttered, and Sasuke's eyes widened before his eyes rolled back to the back of his head, and he fainted. Takara's eyes narrowed, as she could have sworn that she saw Sasuke's eyes glowed a faint electric blue for a split moment before he had blacked out. The hooded man then grabbed Sasuke around the torso and lifted him up, whispering into his ear. "We await your awakening."

"Let Sasuke go! I won't let you take him!" Aoi growled before forcing himself to his feet, despite the pain, and tossing his sword at the man who dodged the sword, thus releasing his hold on Sasuke at the same moment.

"Sasuke!" Takara screamed as her teammate took a parachute dive off the tree that he was standing on. She tried to get to her feet, but collapsed back on her butt. "Damn!" She wished for the hundredth time that she had accepted Tsunade or Shizune's offer to learn some medical ninjutsu.

There was a dark blur just then, and Takara blinked as Aoi ran along the tree branch and dove off the branch after the unconscious Sasuke, throwing a kunai with ninja wire wrapped around the hilt at the trunk of the tree that they were on.

"Aoi!" Takara called out in fear.

Despite his broken ribs, Aoi managed to wrap one arm around Sasuke's waist just before he ran out of wire. When he did, he stopped instantly in the air, hearing a loud crack and a sharp intense pain in his shoulder that nearly caused him to black out. The silver haired teen cursed to himself. _'Damn! I've dislocated my shoulder. Of all the times to do that…!' _He then looked down and nearly gulped, as he _couldn't even see the bottom!_

"Don't worry, I won't do anything else." The hooded man stated. He then looked from Takara to the dangling Aoi – or at least, both conscious genins assumed that he was looking at them because of his hood. "When Uchiha Sasuke wakes up, tell him this: if he wants to blame anyone, blame his ancestors. It won't be long now. _He_ will awaken soon. And Namikaze Takara." Takara stiffened as the man turned towards her. "Tell your father this: do not cancel the chuunin exams, or I'll do worse than what I've done in your village twelve years ago. Your father will understand what it means. Raven's Gate will never be gone. As long as there are humans and ninjas, we will live on!"

**XXXXXX**

_Unknown Location  
__Hi no kuni_

"It should be around here, if I'm not mistaken." Sayo muttered to herself, keeping her eyes on the blue glowing sealing orb currently clutched in her left hand. This is the same sealing orb that she'd used to seal Hiore away nearly eighty years ago, and what she is currently using to track down the exact site of the seal.

It had been years since then, and the landscape had changed. So much so that Sayo could barely recognise it any longer, and had to resort to using her sealing orb to track down the exact location of the seal. The redhead prayed that the seal is still intact, as if the seal is broken, well…she don't want to think about it.

"It's here?" Sayo frowned as she emerged onto a cliff protruding over the sea – a familiar sight that she had only seen once eighty years ago when she had sealed Hiore away. Her eyes widened in slight horror. "Shit."

The waves crashed onto the rocks below the cliff, with the sounds of the gulls crying for food above her. But Sayo was focused on none of those as she stared in disbelief at the large dark purple-black crystal standing in front of her. The crystal is the seal itself, and as long as the seal is intact, fulfilling it's purpose in holding Toshigaki Hiore back, it shouldn't be able to be seen.

The blue sealing orb in Sayo's hand fell to the grass softly, rolling away from her foot. Sayo found it extremely difficult to breath just then. The fact that the seal crystal could be seen only means one thing.

_The seal had been broken._


	26. Chuunin Preliminaries Part I

And I'm back! Also, I've set up a blog on Tumblr where I'll basically be reviewing or just putting up my comments on what I think about all my favourite anime and some manga, even on some of my favourite games. Those that have Tumblr accounts, I'll appreciate it if you can drop off a few comments. The link is on my profile.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Six: Chuunin Preliminaries Part I**

The final day of the second part of the chuunin examinations had all jounin instructors from all nations gathered in the mini stadium in the Tower, all looking down with pride at their students, and hopefully, future colleagues.

All four Leaf genin teams, along with a senior Leaf genin team have passed, though they all looked pretty battered up and bruised, all looking as if they have just been through Hell and back, particularly team seven from Konoha.

Namikaze Takara was holding onto her ribs, and there were signs of white bandages just peeking out from beneath her shirt. Katou Aoi had his right arm bandaged, and Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke seems to be the worst of the lot, as he had bandages around his forehead and left arm.

The team from Ame as well as the team from Tsuki have both passed as well. And unlike the team from Ame, the team from Tsuki looks as clean as a whistle. The Konoha teams, sans for team eight, were all wondering just why the chuunin examiners were looking at the team from Tsuki warily. Like the Tsuki team, the only Suna team that had passed was as clean as a whistle as well, and they looked bored. The single team from Oto had somehow managed to pass as well.

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage who was wearing his trademark white coat with the flames was frowning as he looked at his daughter's team with concern. He knew what had happened with them in the forest after all. They have made it in the day before, and had told the jounin who had received them everything that had happened.

Tsunade and Dan have both panicked, and have headed straight to the infirmary bay of the Tower to see their son, running into both Sakumo and Sakura there at the same time, who were both being updated on team seven's status by Kakashi.

And even though he is quite renowned as a seals master, even Minato was confused by the strange seal on Sasuke's neck, as he had never seen such a thing before. Even Kushina had never encountered such a seal before in her life, and the Uzumaki clan are said to be the best seal masters in all the land. Thus, the best that the Hokage could do is to put a level six containment seal on the strange seal, and hope that it will hold until his old jounin instructor returns to Konoha.

"Nine teams, huh?" The former Sandaime Hokage mused, standing beside Minato, his pipe in his mouth. The former Sandaime may be retired as the Hokage, but he likes to attend events like the chuunin exams to witness for himself just how the younger generation had grown. "That means twenty seven genins in total have passed the second round of the chuunin exams.

"And Anko says that I'm soft." Ibiki snorted to himself, only to have said purple haired kunoichi who is currently ticking the names of all the qualified genins in the clipboard in her hand to glare at him.

Kushina frowned from her place with the other Konoha jounins, with the jounins from the other nations forming their own groups, with the jounins from Ame and Tsuki standing together.

"Takara's team don't look too good." She pointed out. "Should we get them to forfeit? Tsunade did the best she could, but broken bones aren't exactly something that could be healed in a day. It'll be a huge disadvantage for both Aoi and Takara. And we still have no idea what the seal on Sasuke's neck would do."

Kakashi sighed. "Kushina-sama, those three won't just give up like this," he pointed out. "You should know that."

Minato sighed. "You know that we have no authority to order them to give up," he told his wife. "And with twenty seven genins present, we're going to be holding preliminary rounds for the first time in seven years."

Kushina looked distressed at this, as is Tsunade who is looking at her son anxiously.

"At least thank your stars that the teams from Iwa and Kumo didn't qualify to the next round." Sakura tried to comfort the two women.

Hibiki (Hyuuga) Neji frowned, standing with the other Konoha jounins alongside Shikamaru. The top ninjas of the village tends to be present at events like the chuunin examinations just so that they could get a grasp on the fighting strength of the younger generation.

"Come to think of it, I don't think that I've seen their teams yet," he said. "Where are they?"

"Well, if they're still in the forest somewhere, they're bound to be found soon. I've already sent some jounins into the forest to search for the teams still in there," said Anko with an unconcerned shrug. She then turned towards her Hokage. "Hokage-sama, we can start now."

Minato nodded before clearing his throat loudly, and taking one step forwards. The attention of all genins present was immediately focused on the blonde man, who looked rather intimidating. "Congratulations on making it this far." Minato begun. "The third round of the chuunin examinations is about to commence, and—"

There was a poof of smoke just then, along with the tell-tale signs of a shunshin, as a rather sickly looking jounin with a bandanna tied around his head appeared, with brunette hair just peeking out from beneath the bandanna. This caused several raised brows among the jounins from the other nations who had recognised the man as Konoha's kenjutsu specialist, Gekkou Hayate.

"Forgive me for my interruption, Hokage-sama," said Hayate. "But if you'll allow to hand the rest of the proceedings of the exam over to myself…Gekkou Hayate, the proctor of the third exam?"

"Go right ahead," said Minato with a nod, taking a step backwards.

Hayate turned around to face the genins. "Good to see that so many of you had passed the second part of the exams. _'cough cough' _My name is Gekkou Hayate and _'cough cough' _I will be the proctor for the third stage of the _'cough cough' _chuunin exams ("Is he alright?" wondered Rihan to himself). However, _'cough cough' _before we begin the third stage of the chuunin exams, _'cough cough' _we will have to hold preliminary rounds _'cough cough' _as there are still…too many candidates."

"Preliminaries?" Shika yelped angrily. "What for?"

"A number of honoured guests _'cough cough' _will be attending the third stage of the chuunin exams, and thus, _'cough cough', _we can't spare all the time in the world to allow the various daimyos and feudal lords as well as the kages of each village to _'cough cough' _view every single one of your fights. The preliminaries will be held now and _'cough cough', _to anyone who doesn't feel up to fighting or _'cough cough' _is feeling unwell, please feel free to forfeit. ("Sensei, I think _you're_ the one who's feeling unwell," muttered Haku under her breath). All battles will be individual battles _'cough cough' _and your team won't be affected in any way if you forfeit."

A hand rose up into the air just then, and every single pair of eyes turned towards the owner who turned out to be a silver-haired youth from the Konoha senior genin team. "I forfeit," said the teen tiredly. "I am out of chakra, and I do not have the stamina left to fight."

Hayate frowned before he consulted the clipboard that he had in his hands. "You're…Yakushi Kabuto of Konoha, right?" The youth nodded, and Hayate sighed and nodded, making a note on the clipboard that he had. "Very well. You may go."

"That kid again?" Anko snorted. "Now isn't that just like déjà vu? If I recall correctly, he had been dropping out of every single chuunin exams for six times in a row. This is his seventh now, if I recall correctly."

* * *

Over with the Tsuki and Ame jounins, Seina was frowning as she glanced at the departing back of the silver haired youth. "I think we'd best keep an eye on him. Something doesn't feel right about that boy."

The other jounins nodded in agreement.

* * *

Over with the Konoha side, Minato frowned. "What is his record?" he asked, and Anko frowned before consulting the clipboard that she had in her hand.

"Yakushi Kabuto. Teammates are Akado Yoroi and Tsurugi Misumi," she recited. "Tried and failed the chuunin examinations for seven times now. This is currently his fourth year taking the exams. He's an average student during his Academy years, and it took him three tries to pass the finals and graduate to be a genin. He had a record of 14 D-ranked missions and 2 C-ranks under his belt. Nothing really noteworthy about him, except…" Anko frowned as she studied the small note under Kabuto's profile and exchanged looks with Ibiki.

Kushina frowned. "Except?" she echoed.

"This is something that had happened before he had even entered into the Academy." Ibiki explained, entering into the conversation. "Do you remember the tale of a young boy who was brought back from that battle at Kikyo Pass?"

Understanding dawned on Minato's face. "Oh. Yes, I do," he said. "A jounin elite Leaf-nin who is the leader of one of the medic teams took in an orphaned child belonging to the enemy who had survived on the battlefield. I see." The Hokage turned to look at the retreating back of Kabuto. "So he is that kid."

"Is there anyone else who wished to forfeit?" Hayate asked, glancing around at all the other genins.

Team seven of Konoha exchanged looks among themselves. "Sasuke, you should forfeit." Aoi whispered to Sasuke who stared at him as if the silver haired teen had just grown two new heads. "That strange seal on your neck bothers me, and even you said that it feels wrong to you somehow, didn't you?"

"And don't you think that both of you should forfeit as well?" Sasuke questioned snidely. "You have a broken arm, and Takara broke her ribs."

"We'll be fine." Aoi insisted.

"Then I'll be fine too. End of story." Sasuke snapped.

Hayate cleared his throat. "Alright, seeing as how no one else wished to forfeit, we will now begin the preliminaries," he said, and the electronic scoreboard soon started rolling with names. "The preliminaries will consist of individual one-on-one matches. The victors of each exam will proceed to the third stage of the chuunin exams. The match ends when one of the combatants is dead, unconscious, admits defeat or when I say so. I will step in to end the match if I feel that a winner is already determined."

The scoreboard soon stopped on two names: _Akado Yoroi versus Uchiha Sasuke._

Hayate coughed. "Alright, will everyone apart from the two combatants please head up to the stands so that we can start the first match?"

It didn't take too long before the two combatants were standing across each other, and Hayate then signalled the start of the first round.

"Fight!"

**XXXXXX**

Seina growled low in her throat as she watched the silver haired jounin instructor of the Sasuke boy take him away, probably towards the infirmary in the Tower.

She wasn't too impressed with her supposed descendant, and how he had basically ripped the taijutsu move from a fellow Leaf-nin, and had renamed it 'Lion Combo'. The distressed look on Rock Lee's face spoke wonders for his feelings regarding this matter as well.

This is only part of the reason why the Uchiha clan was so distrusted during the first days of Konoha, and why several ninjas don't like ninjas from the Uchiha clan. And Seina can understand why too. It would only make one angry to have the move that they've spent their blood, sweat and tears on learning only to have it stolen and copied within a matter of moments by another.

"I think I'm starting to understand why Sayo and Madara have spared no hesitation in wiping out every single Uchiha member back then, sans for the boy below." Seina muttered. "I'm starting to think that there isn't a _single _good thing to be said about this village in general!"

"Calm down, Seina-san," said Konan. "The next match is starting."

Seina turned towards the electronic scoreboard only to see it running once more, only to have it stopping on two names: _Nara Shika versus Tsuchi Kin._

The fight was pretty much…anti-climatic. The Konoha genin pretty much used his brains the entire match, and won it by forcing his opponent to hit her head against the wall behind her, knocking her out, thus awarding him the match.

Up on the stands, Kaiga (Nara) Shikamaru almost sweat dropped. "Was I _really _this lazy when I was a kid?" he muttered so that only Neji and Sakura could hear him, and they both laughed.

Next match, Namikaze Takara versus Inuzuka Kiba.

Kushina nearly groaned. "Oh great. An Inuzuka is the worst possible opponent for her right now, with her busted ribs," she stated, glancing at her daughter worriedly as the redhead made her way down to the stadium, holding onto her side, a pained look on her face.

"Well, not necessarily, Kushina," said Minato with a secret smile. He winked at his wife. "You know that our daughter is never one to go with conventional methods. Depending on the situation, she can either go with the flow or go the opposite way."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"

A loud scream from the Inuzuka down below caused the senior jounins to look down at the stadium in bewilderment, only to see a web of wires all across the stadium, with the wires wrapped around the handles of the several kunais currently all across the walls of the stadium. Takara was holding a kunai that held the 'web' together, panting heavily, her face dangerously pale, the other hand holding her side, biting on her lower lip. The Inuzuka boy was wrapped up in those wires, his limbs spread far apart from each other, with his canine partner in much the same situation as well.

Kushina stared on in shock. "I don't believe this… She really managed to master this in under a month?" she muttered. Seeing her husband's questioning look, she proceeded to explain. "When Takara heard that she'll be entering the chuunin exams, she asked me to train her in the usage of long ranged weapons. That's the technique that I've taught her. It's extremely tricky, as it requires precise timing and the mastery of weapons."

* * *

Over with team nine of Konoha, Hyuuga Kisuke grinned. "Looks like you've got a rival or two, Tenten."

Tenten smirked.

* * *

Hayate coughed. "Winner, Namikaze Takara."

Hearing the proclamation of the referee, Takara immediately let the web of wires fall, and fell to her knees at the same time as well, her face going paler than is normal, holding onto her side. Namikaze nee Uzumaki Kushina was by her side so quickly that one could only wonder if she has learned the jutsu that had made her husband famous.

"M-Mum…" Takara whimpered, slight tears forming around her eyes with the pain that is wrecking through her body right now.

"Good girl, Takara. You did extremely well. Let's get you to the infirmary," said Kushina with a smile at her daughter. "Don't worry, you'll be back in time to see your friends' matches. Come on." Kushina then lifted her daughter in her arms, and with a nod to her husband, she was gone with a quick shunshin.

Kiba wasn't much bruised sans for perhaps in his pride, and he was grumbling something incoherent as he made his way back up to the stands. It was perhaps the first time that the jounins have seen the victor being chartered off to the infirmary, and the loser being able to walk back up the stands with his own strength.

The electronic scoreboard was running once more, and every single pair of eyes was fixated on it as it stopped on two names, and the hearts of nearly every single jounin in the stands stopped cold as they saw the names displayed there.

_Tatsuyama Kyo versus Abumi Zaku._

The faces of the genins of team eight of Konoha went pale immediately as they recalled what they have seen the Tsuki genin did in the forest. Over with the Tsuki team, Rihan spoke to Kyo as he started to make his way down to the stands.

"Kyo, don't do overboard." He ordered, his arms crossed over his chest. "Keep it to ten minutes."

Kyo grinned. "Roger that," he chirped.

Takara made it back to the stands with her mother just as the two combatants made it down to the stands, standing across each other. "So what did I miss?" she asked innocently, having recovered some of her facial colour.

"Look there," said Aoi, pointing down at the stands below. Takara followed Aoi's finger, and paled instantly when she saw just _who _is fighting in the next round.

"Uh oh. This isn't good. The Oto-nin is better off forfeiting his match if he don't want to die." Takara muttered. Seeing Sasuke's inquiring look, she sighed. "You'll see what I mean later."

Zabuza frowned. "This will be a chance to see if Kyo really do have his power under control," he said to Seina and the Tsuki genins whom nodded. "And it looks like Tsuki won't be kept under the radar for much longer now. And then again, I'm pretty sure that Tsukikage-sama already knew this when he sent my team to the chuunin exams."

Hayate looked between the two genins. "Are you both ready?" He received no replies, but raised his hand anyway. "Third match, Tatsuyama Kyo of Tsukigakure versus Abumi Zaku of Otogakure. Fight!"

And he then took refuge into the stands, as something told him that it would be safer for him that way.

For nearly an entire minute, neither one of the two genins moved before Zaku growled. "If you're not coming, then I'm moving!" he roared before he aimed his two palms at Kyo who looked pretty bored, with his hands shoved into his pockets. "Zankuuha!"

Seina narrowed her eyes. _'Sound waves?' _she thought, noticing that the Inuzuka boy and his dog were whimpering, and covering their ears. A high-pitched screeching echoed all around the stands as well, causing those with sensitive hearing to wince and to cover their ears.

"Dear me…" Kyo sighed as he sidestepped the sound wave attack simply. "You call that an attack? Let me show you…a real attack." His red-orange eyes glowed slightly, unnerving the hell out of the Oto genin. He held out a hand, and Takara and Aoi both gulped nervously – recognising this same gesture of his.

The Sand genins were looking on with interest as well, all wanting to know just what kind of attack had deflected Gaara's sand back then, rendering it useless.

Kyo raised his palm, and then, a huge force blast sent shockwaves throughout the entire stadium. The metal railings that prevent people from falling down to the ground from the stands above rotted away, and Nara Shika who was leaning with his elbows against the railings almost fell.

"W-What the…?"

"Get the hell away from there!" Sarutobi Asuma snapped, grabbing the back of the shirt of his student, and yanking him away from the now non-existent railings. "You guys too!" He called to the other genins and jounins who immediately obeyed.

Sarutobi Hizuren narrowed his eyes. "I knew it," he muttered, exchanging looks with Minato. "The name can't be just a coincidence. So he's from that cursed clan. I didn't think that any of them are still alive. The last one from the Tatsuyama clan that any of us had seen is back during the Second Great Ninja War…more than forty years ago."

Haku 'hmmed' in her throat. "It's starting," she said in a voice loud enough to reach the ears of the Konoha ninjas. "The Tatsuyama clan's true power."

Rihan narrowed his eyes. "Yeah. It's been awhile since I've seen Kyo in action. The time in the forest doesn't count." He cut off Haku.

Zaku was trembling as he stared with wide and disbelieving eyes up at the rotting railings, black pieces crumbling and falling down to the ground around him. "What…the…hell…?" he stuttered. He turned fearful eyes towards Kyo. "Who…the hell are you? _What _are you?"

Kyo put on an impassive face, but his mind is taking him back to a time in his past. Way back even to before he had met Rihan as a child. The Tatsuyama clan is respected in Tsuki as one of their oldest shinobi clans, but they are also feared. And it is expected, with their powers.

_Hey, they're from the Tatsuyama clan. Let's get out of here._

_I told you not to play with that boy. Come on, let's go home._

_Huh? Why, Mama?_

'_Why? Why do they fear us? Why?'_

"You're starting to piss me off." Kyo muttered, closing his eyes before opening them again, and nearly every single ninja present cringed at the murderous look in his eyes. "Very well. I wasn't planning on getting serious here, but you've just changed my mind. I'll let you in on something now: when we Tsuki-nins are forced into combat, _we don't hold back. _I'll show you." He moved one foot backwards. "The true power of a Tsuki-nin."

Zaku's eyes widened as Kyo disappeared from sight just then, and appeared in front of him in a split instant. In fact, the blonde was so close to him that their faces are almost touching. And before Zaku can do anything, Kyo swung his foot towards Zaku, catching him in the face, and sending him reeling backwards. The blonde then followed up with an uppercut to his chin, sending him flying across the stands.

"Shinobi arts have five types," said Nagato calmly, aware that nearly every single ninja in the stands were paying close attention to his words. "Ninjutsu. Genjutsu. Taijutsu. Fuuinjutsu. And kenjutsu. The three main ninja arts are ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. But occasionally, we have ninjas that are practitioners of outside arts. Most ninjas are just practitioners of one or the other. We rarely have ninjas that are proficient in all five of the ninja arts. But the ninjas of Tsukigakure are one of them."

"Damn you!" Zaku rubbed his bruised cheek as he lunged at Kyo and swung a fist towards him which Kyo dodged easily, before Zaku followed it up by a kunai strike from his other hand which the blonde dodged easily as well, only losing a few strands of hair. Kyo then caught the hand holding the kunai and punched Zaku in the abdomen, sending him backwards.

"He's good." Kakashi admitted, and his fellow jounins nodded in agreement, even the senior jounins. "The Tsuki genin. The boy is at least chuunin level in skill. The outcome of this match is obvious now."

"Damn you!" Zaku growled. "I'm not holding back anymore as well." He aimed his palms at Kyo.

**XXXXXX**

Up on the stands, Kisuke snorted. "Hasn't that kid learned by now that that move of his is futile?" he snorted.

"No, something isn't quite right." Tenten remarked.

Haku frowned as she felt a large concentration of chakra in those arms of the Oto genin, and narrowed her eyes. _'What is he planning to do?' _she wondered.

**XXXXXX**

"_Zankyokukuuha!" _Zaku roared, sending a much more advanced version of his attack from before towards Kyo's initial direction, who merely deflected it easily with the same move that he had used when deflecting Gaara's sand.

And before Zaku could recover from his surprise, Kyo vanished only to reappear in front of him again in a split instant, kicking his legs out from beneath him, and grabbing Zaku's right arm in a firm grasp before he could fall. Kyo then forced Zaku to turn so that his face was facing him, and Zaku almost gulped at the dangerous look in Kyo's eyes.

It is only later, much _much _later that he, along with nearly every single ninja currently present will realise that Tatsuyama Kyo _always _gets like that whenever he uses one of his specialised clan techniques that deals with Death.

Kyo then grabbed Zaku's left hand with his other free hand, and forced his arm in a dead arm lock behind Zaku. If he just applied more strength, Kyo will probably break Zaku's arm. "Will you forfeit?" Kyo questioned. "If you don't, I won't hesitate. And neither will I regret doing what I have to do."

"Fuck…you…!" Zaku growled before he roared, "ZANKYOKUKUUHA!"

Taken back by surprise, Kyo was blasted backwards, with the force of that attack ripping the jacket and shirtsleeves of his left arm, revealing part of the seals drawn on his left arm, and Minato frowned as he recognised those seals. _'Limiter seals?' _he wondered. _'Why would that genin need those seals?'_

Kyo frowned as he touched his left cheek only to have blood come away on his fingertips and glanced at Zaku who looked triumphant. "I see, so you can expel that attack anywhere from your body," he remarked. "I admit that I've underestimated you. But…" Kyo straightened up. "…not good enough."

He disappeared again, before reappearing again in front of Zaku, kicking his legs out from beneath him, and before Zaku could recover or even react fast enough, Kyo grabbed Zaku's right arm in a firm grasp. "Those arms that you're so proud of…" The blonde stated in a tone of voice that sent shivers down everyone's backs, "I'll take it away from you."

Zaku then started screaming in pain as Kyo released his grip on Zaku's right arm, and stepped away from him. The Oto genin then collapsed to the ground, screaming and rolling about in pain, clutching his right arm…or what was left of his right arm anyway, as before the horrified eyes of all ninjas present, the right arm of the Oto genin was turning black and rotting away right before their eyes.

It is almost like seeing a speeded up version of a deteriorating body. First, the skin turned black and fell off in flaks. It was then followed by the flesh, enabling every single person present to see the bones beneath which then turned black and rotted away before their eyes. In a matter of mere moments, Zaku's right arm was then completely gone.

Nagato and Konan both narrowed their eyes. They've heard of the Tatsuyama clan's prowess before from Yahiko, but seeing it is another matter entirely. And the way that this technique functions…

"Nagato, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Konan asked her childhood friend in a low voice so that he is the only one who could hear her.

Nagato nodded silently. "Probably," he said. "This technique… It seems awfully like the bodies that had suffered through the Bone Eater technique that we've discovered near our borders four years ago." He glanced at Konan. "Probably, it's based off the Tatsuyama clan's technique."

Konan sighed. "No wonder Sayo-san said that there's no cure and no way to block it."

**XXXXXX**

Over with the Konoha side, Hinata could barely keep her legs steady. She knew that that blonde Tsuki genin is strong. But for him to be able to do such a thing… Dear Kami… What the hell is he?

"What…the hell is that?" Kiba gasped, almost as if he had trouble breathing.

**XXXXXX**

Down on the stands, Kyo glanced at Zaku emotionlessly before turning his head upwards to look at Hayate. "Referee, call the match. He won't be getting up." He then turned and started to make his way up the stands to join his team.

Hayate coughed before leaping back down. "Erm… W-Winner, Tatsuyama Kyo!" Even his voice came out kind of strained.

**XXXXXX**

Rihan sighed, noticing the looks that all the other ninjas were giving them. "Great. Now _everyone _knows," he almost groaned.

"Well, his power had always been stronger than the rest of his clan, especially since he's the heir," said Zabuza reasonably. "He is the one Tatsuyama who has the strongest power of any Tatsuyama in that legendary clan for the past hundred years. He can't fully control it yet. That's why Tsukikage-sama and Sayo-sama have to seal some of his abilities away until he can get it under control. You know how terrifying it is if a Tatsuyama's power goes berserk. You were both at the Academy five years ago when Kyo's powers nearly went out of control. It is only by sheer luck that Sayo-sama happens to be near the Academy, and managed to restrain him."

Haku sighed, exchanging looks with Rihan. Oh yes. She remembered that day, all right. As clear as day, in fact. That day is probably the closest that she had ever come to stare at Death in the face.

"Yeah. We do," said Haku with a sigh.

**XXXXXX**

Temari narrowed her eyes at Kyo as he joined his team, even as Konoha medics sedated the Oto genin, knocking him out with a strong sleeping sedative, and lifting him on a stretcher, taking him to the infirmary.

"That power… So that is what he had used back then," said Temari slowly, recalling the time when Kyo had stopped Gaara's attack on his teammate. The wind user shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"What a terrifying power…" Kankuro whimpered, glancing at his younger brother who seemed excited, and not in a good way. He gulped. _'I can't decide just who is scarier: Gaara or that guy.'_

The Suna jounin instructor frowned, glancing at the form of Tatsuyama Kyo who was receiving congratulations from his team, and the Ame genin team. "I didn't think that any of that cursed clan is still alive. So the name isn't just a coincidence after all." Baki remarked.

"Huh? Baki-sensei, you know of his clan?" Temari questioned, turning curious eyes towards her jounin instructor, and even Gaara and Kankuro looked interested.

"Hmm? Yeah, I do," said Baki, glancing at his three charges, and towards the blonde genin from Tsuki once more. "Their clan is pretty famous among the ninja nations, particularly the ninja clans. They're one of the most feared ninja clans in all the land. But they're supposed to have been wiped out during the Second Great Ninja War. I see. Now I see why they've disappeared." Baki glanced at the Tsuki hitai-ate that Kyo is wearing around his forehead. "They must have joined Tsuki at around that time."

* * *

The cigarette in Asuma's mouth dropped to the ground in shock even as he watched the medics take the Oto genin out of the stands and towards the infirmary.

"So the name isn't just a coincidence after all," he muttered. "I thought that they were all wiped out. So that kid is a survivor of that cursed clan."

"Asuma-sensei, do you know the clan that he is from?" Chouji asked curiously. And at this, every Konoha genin pricked their ears up.

"W-Well, kind of," said Asuma, suddenly uncomfortable with all the stares that he is receiving. "The Tatsuyama clan is pretty famous. Their name is feared among the ninja nations. Every ninja from a ninja family worth their salt is bound to hear of that name even once. They're the worst nightmare that a ninja can come across. That kid is a member of one of the ninja nations' most fearsome ninja clans. The Tatsuyama clan is the closest to being the shinigami that humans can get. They control Life and Death itself."

Asuma studied the shocked looks on the faces of the genins. "They last appeared during the Second Great Ninja War more than forty years ago. Just one member of their clan is enough to deal with at least a thousand jounins. They have the ability to kill with just a mere touch. As long as it is something that is alive and breathing, they can take that life away easily. I've heard rumours of how they can make anything die, even if it's technically not alive. So it's true. And they can also give life back to a person, as long as that person had just died moments prior. They are some of the world's best healers, but they're also some of the world's worst nightmares. After the Second Great Ninja War, the Tatsuyama clan vanished, and no one has seen hide nor hair of them ever since. But their name is still feared, even now."

Shika shivered. "What a fearsome ability."

"That's why they say that if you ever came across a Tatsuyama as your enemy, you'd better drop on all fours and pray for mercy," said Sakumo grimly. "Killing someone with a mere touch is easy for them. They're the worst type of opponents for anyone to come across – short range or long range. _Nothing _can block their abilities. If they want you dead, you're dead."

**XXXXXX**

The electronic scoreboard is running again, and everyone was staring at it with bated breaths. Tsunade who was eyeing the scoreboard hopefully almost felt her heart stop as the board flashed the two next two names:

_Yukina Haku versus Katou Aoi_

* * *

_A/N: And so the chuunin preliminaries are getting underway. I hope that the fight scene is all right, as I absolutely sucked at fight scenes! And regarding Sasuke, anyone wants some Sasuke bashing in here?_

_And as stated above, I am starting an anime review blog of sorts, with games and maybe fanfiction included in it. Any of you who have accounts on Tumblr, I'll appreciate it if you can take a look and tell me what you think, and to also help spread the word. The link is on my profile._

_I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, and please read and review!_


	27. Chuunin Preliminaries Part II

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Chuunin Preliminaries Part II**

Everyone standing near where the Tsuki-nins were standing was giving them a pretty wide berth. Even the Ame genins and jounins (Nagato and Konan) were giving them some space. And who could blame them? Especially since one Tatsuyama Kyo is glaring at nothing in particular whilst sitting with his back against the wall, a rather ominous aura surrounding him. He was sitting with one leg propped up, with the other folded below him, the red-orange in his eyes seeming more profound than usual.

Only Zabuza, Haku and Rihan understood why the normally cheerful Kyo is acting this way. Every single time that he uses his abilities over Death, it tends to bring out the more negative personality in him. It is kind of like a split personality of sorts.

Kyo used to suffer from that when he was a little kid when he had nearly lost control at the ninja Academy of Tsukigakure when some idiot had badmouthed Kyo and his clan, and the blonde had nearly lost it. It is fortunate for everyone present that Sayo happened to be nearby, and she managed to get him under control.

Not long after that, Kyo was taken out of the Academy, and kept in 'solitary'. Rihan and Haku both understood it as Kyo being kept in a special facility of sorts as Sayo and a member of the Tatsuyama clan helped Kyo to control his abilities.

As the Tatsuyama heir, he is the one Tatsuyama who wield the strongest abilities unique only to the Tatsuyama clan that only appears every one hundred years. And despite Tsuki being a village that doesn't discriminate against others, even they would be wary of a power that can take and give life easily.

And it wasn't until recently that Kyo was finally determined to be stable enough by Sayo, and was allowed on a genin team. But still, Sayo sealed majority of his abilities away until Kyo is a little older to be able to control his abilities better.

"Haku and that guy, huh?" Rihan mused, watching as Haku made her way down to the stands, as Aoi walked down to the stands, holding onto his side gingerly. Rihan's sharp eyes spotted the bandages peeking from beneath his shirt and he frowned. "He's injured. Doesn't seem to be very fair to me."

"Well, logically speaking, I don't think that that Konoha genin will be able to defeat Haku even if he is at full health." Zabuza piped in. "She is one of our best genins for a reason. Like how both you and Kyo are one of our best genins for a reason."

"And besides, unlike you and Kyo both, Haku is at least reasonable enough to _not _beat her opponent nearly half to death." Konan added, and Rihan flushed.

**XXXXXX**

Hayate looked between Haku and Aoi – the latter who looked pretty nervous, and looked pretty pale.

"Are you both ready?" he asked, but received no response. He then raised his hand. "Fourth match, Yukina Haku of Tsukigakure versus Katou Aoi of Konohagakure! Fight!"

Both genins said and did nothing for several moments before Haku sighed loudly, glancing at Aoi. "Are you sure that you want to fight me in this condition? I'll rather not fight someone who is injured and looked on the verge of collapsing at any moment."

Several of the senior jounins were surprised at this gesture. "Seems like chivalry isn't dead after all." Kushina muttered, impressed by the dark haired Tsuki kunoichi. "Most ninjas would use every single opportunity open to them in order to beat their opponent."

Aoi doesn't look pleased however. "I'm fine," he insisted. "Don't underestimate me just because I'm injured."

Haku glanced up at the stands only to see Tsunade looking almost frantic with worry, and Katou Dan glancing at his son worriedly, one hand on his wife's shoulder to hold her back. "I'll rather not test out the theory if Katou nee Senju Tsunade is really the strongest kunoichi with Herculean-like strength in the entire elemental nations," she muttered. "My apologies, Aoi-kun, but I'm ending this quickly. Not only because you're injured, but because I have no wish to drag this out for long."

Haku slid one foot behind her, and Aoi, along with nearly everyone else present stiffened. She then raised her right hand and quickly formed several quick one handed hand seals with speed that most of the genins and chuunins found difficult to see.

"One handed hand seals?" Shika yelped, his eyes widening.

"That is impossible!" Takara muttered.

Down on the stands, Haku finished forming the hand seals for her technique before announcing, "Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou!"

To Aoi's shock, several ice mirrors immediately formed from out of nowhere, barricading him in. And to the viewers' shock, Haku immediately disappeared from sight, only to appear again in one of the mirrors before every single mirror reflected her image.

"What is this?" Aoi spluttered before striking a nearby ice mirror with his kunai, but it barely made a scratch.

"It's pointless." Haku said. "My ice mirrors are impossible to be destroyed by normal means. I'm ending this match quickly. It is for your own sake as well." She raised both hands only to show Aoi that she had several senbon needles clutched in between her fingers. The black haired kunoichi then launched those senbon needles at Aoi.

"Aoi!" Takara screamed as Aoi went down like a sack of potatoes as the needles struck him.

Haku immediately dismissed her ice mirrors and landed lightly on her feet. "Don't worry, I went easy on him," she said. "I'm a medic. I save lives, _not _try to take them, though I had often been forced to do that. I merely knocked him out." Haku glanced at Hayate. "Referee, call the match."

Hayate coughed as Konoha medics carried Aoi away to the infirmary. "W-Winner, Yukina Haku."

And so, the matches continued.

Fifth match is one of the Ame genins against Yamanaka Ino.

The match was so ridiculously easy that Rihan even wondered to himself just what the hell makes her sensei thinks that she is ready for the chuunin exams. Yuuhi Kurenai had glared at a sheepish looking Sarutobi Asuma at that comment.

Sixth match was Sabaku no Kankuro of Suna versus Tsurugi Misumi of Konoha.

The Leaf genin had been one of the more senior genins, and if truth be told, the Tsuki-nins have expected more of a fight, but they were solely disappointed. The Leaf genin apparently had some weird kekkei genkai that enables his body to act like rubber, and he tried to strangle his opponent. However, he tried to 'strangle' a puppet instead, and was thus defeated rather easily when the Suna-nin showed himself, not amused in the least that the Leaf genin had nearly damaged his puppet.

Rihan nearly groaned at the pathetic fight. _"Please _tell me that Leaf genins are stronger than this," he groaned. "Just what the hell have they been doing, and where the hell did they even get their training? For a village that is supposed to be the strongest of the Great Six, they're not really showing it right now."

Haku giggled at Rihan's frustration, and Kyo merely grunted. "You'll probably find out for yourself soon enough, Rihan." Kyo added, and Rihan raised a brow. The blonde jerked his chin towards the initial direction of the electronic scoreboard. "You're up next."

The scoreboard had displayed the names of the next two combatants:

_Sasaki Rihan versus Higurashi Tenten_

Rihan glanced at the stands across him only to spy the kunoichi dressed in a pink Chinese shirt. He raised his brow, impressed at her body structure and the lean muscles visible on her person. He could tell that this kunoichi takes the ninja business seriously, unlike the other blonde kunoichi from her village, and by the looks of things, she trained seriously.

"Well, wish me luck," he said cheerfully as he walked down the stairs to the stands where the Tenten girl was waiting.

Kyo was silent for a long time as he watched his best friend's departing back. "Will he be alright?" he asked at last.

"What, no confidence in your best friend, Kyo?" Haku teased. "Rihan will be fine. He isn't the best genin in our class for nothing. You could have gained that position as well, but you didn't go through the Academy with us."

Kyo grunted, not wanting to be reminded of it. "That's not what I meant!" Kyo said, annoyed. "I agree that Rihan is strong. But that kunoichi is a weapons' specialist. Will Rihan be forced to draw White Dragon?"

Haku turned serious as she glanced down at the two genins below. She now understood what Kyo was concerned about. Just like with Kyo's clan and several other clans in Tsuki, Rihan's clan has some clan ethics and some clan laws to follow. As Rihan's teammates, both Haku and Kyo knew the consequences that Rihan must bear if he ever drew his sword.

"Don't do anything stupid, Rihan." Haku muttered.

**XXXXXX**

"Seventh match, Sasaki Rihan of Tsukigakure versus Higurashi Tenten of Konohagakure. Fight!"

"A swordsman, huh?" Tenten mused, glancing at the sword on Rihan's back with interest. "Interesting. Very few people actually uses kenjutsu these days." And she actually cradled her kunais lovingly, nearly causing Rihan to cringe, and for several of the surrounding ninjas to look at Tenten as if she had a few screws loose. "How about it? Why don't we have a pure kenjutsu match?"

Rihan sighed as he looked straight into Tenten's eyes, displaying nothing in his own eyes. "My apologies, Higurashi-san, but I won't use my sword against you."

Tenten frowned at Rihan. "Are you looking down on me just because I'm a girl?" she questioned threateningly.

"Not in the least, I assure you." Rihan stated. "My teammate Haku is a kunoichi as well, and yet she can easily kick my ass during team training." He shook his head. "No. The real reason why I won't unsheathe my sword is because I _can't. _Clan ethics."

"What did he mean?" Hyuuga Kisuke was confused, and he wasn't the only one. Which clan on earth would limit their own clan members' fighting ability like this?

"It's Sasaki clan ethics." Kyo answered, and every single ninja present turned towards him. The blonde was still seated against the wall, though with his match earlier, nearly every single safety railing was gone, thus allowing him to watch the match going on below without anything blocking his view of sight. "In the Sasaki clan, the code of the samurai is law for them, since they _were_ originally a clan of samurais after all, before the clan decided to adapt to the way of the ninja back during the First Great Shinobi War. And like every ninja clan out there, the Sasaki clan have their own set of rules to follow: clan ethics and clan laws. And unlike other clans, they are quite strict on it. Those rules _must _be followed, no matter what. If a Sasaki is ever forced to unsheathe their own sword, forced to remove their sword from the sheathe, a life _must _be taken. Blood _must _be spilt. Every Sasaki is given a sword that will follow them to their grave the moment that they become an adult in the eyes of the clan – when they can draw first blood against a clan member. Rihan is a genius in their clan, having been given his White Dragon at the tender age of seven – the youngest ever in the Sasaki clan to be given his own sword. A Sasaki's sword must never be far from them. Once they unsheathe their sword—" Kyo's eyes darkened. "—someone _must _die. That's a strict rule in the Sasaki clan, one that must never be broken."

Takara felt her breath caught in her throat at this. What kind of rule is this? Kushina whose clan had typically been made up of swordsmen prior to the attack on them during the war understood the reasoning behind it, and thus, wasn't as shocked as the other ninjas over this harsh law.

"But…why?" Ino asked. "Why such a law? It's strange!"

Haku closed her eyes momentarily before opening them again. "'A sword is a weapon. And all weapons are for killing. No matter what nice sounding words that you try to dress it up in, this is the cold hard truth'." She recited. The ice maiden glanced around the stands. "This…is one of the Sasaki clan's clan ethics. When you unsheathe your sword…you _kill. _If you hesitate, you _die. _If you want to protect someone, you do it, even if it costs you your own life. This…is what it means to be a member of the Sasaki clan, the clan of the samurai, and also what it means to be a ninja."

Down on the stands, Rihan said nothing.

As both Haku and Kyo have been best friends and childhood friends of his for years, they knew about the ways of his clan, and their combat mannerisms. Similar to the Tatsuyama clan, once a Sasaki clan member unsheathes their sword, someone will always die. In some cases, the one who had died actually turned out to be the Sasaki member themselves, if they weren't able to kill their own opponent.

"Shall we begin, Higurashi-san?" Rihan questioned. "Just a word of advice here: don't hold back. Come at me with the intent to kill. If you don't…" His eyes gleamed dangerously. "…you won't survive."

* * *

"_Tenten! _You can't give up here! Show him your flames of youth!" A very energetic Rock Lee screamed, not seeming to notice the very pissed expression on his Hyuuga teammate's face who doesn't seem pleased at having the already loud boy shouting at the top of his lungs right next to his ear.

On Hyuuga Kisuke's other side, Maito Gai was bellowing two times louder than Lee. "That's right, Tenten! Show him your flames of youth!"

* * *

"What the hell are they talking about?" Zabuza asked, blinking in confusion. "With all the weird ninjas that Konoha has, it makes me surprised that they're known as the strongest village in the world."

Nagato sighed, having met the green duo about a year ago when he had came to Konoha on diplomatic business. That little _encounter _still gave him nightmares at times.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Nagato muttered, and Konan giggled. Both she and Yahiko have heard Nagato's story of how he had met the Two Green Beasts of Konoha.

* * *

"This doesn't look good." Nara Shika mused. "Tenten will lose."

Ino shouted at him. "Hey, don't be such a sexist pig! Tenten is doing pretty well out there! Just because her opponent is a guy doesn't mean that—"

"If Shika says that Tenten will lose, she will lose." Chouji interrupted whilst munching on a bag of chips, having confidence in his best friend.

"And I'm being serious here, Ino." Shika stated, not seeming to care that he had quite an audience of Leaf genins, and even several from the other nations listening to him. "You can see it in their attacks." He jerked his chin towards the stands where Tenten was seriously getting messed up by Rihan, and she hasn't so much as placed one scratch on him. And the most insulting thing here is that Rihan hasn't used a single one of his weapons. All the weapons that he had been using thus far belonged to Tenten. "Tenten's attacks aren't meant to kill." Rihan dodged another kunai easily, catching it in between two fingers and hurling it quickly at Tenten who barely dodged it, creating another cut on her neck. "But that guy is. He is not holding back at all. He is a master at weapon handling." He shook his head. "If his clan is indeed a clan of weapon specialists, I'm not surprised at his high skill. Hell, he could probably be a high chuunin level ninja already, with his skills."

* * *

Tenten breathed heavily, several cuts marring her frame, with several cuts and tears in her own clothes as well.

"Higurashi-san, please forfeit now." Rihan stated, picking up a stray kunai by his foot. "Even you should have realised that our skill levels is too much of a difference. If you insist on continuing, you will die. And that is something that I have no wish to do, even with the feelings that my village has against Konoha."

Tenten sighed, looking at all the cuts and tears in her clothes, to the number of weapons scattered all over the ground, and to Rihan who is as clean as a whistle with not a hair out of place. Tenten might be prideful, but she is not stupid. She knew when to retreat and when to continue fighting. Her sensei might be one of the weirdest jounins in the village, but he is a good teacher and that had been one of the first things that he had taught his students.

The brunette sighed and raised her hand. "I forfeit."

"Winner, Sasaki Rihan!"

**XXXXXX**

"Damn, that guy is good!" Kiba muttered, having returned from the infirmary in the middle of Rihan and Tenten's match. "He didn't even get one scratch on him! What the hell are they?"

The next match was soon called for: Sabaku no Temari of Suna against one of the genins from Ame.

"I recognise their clan names." Takara stated, and her peers turned towards her in curiosity. The redhead glanced at her friends before glancing towards the direction where the Tsuki-nins are. "I heard stories about them when I was a kid. My mother used to tell me stories about them. The Yukina clan is a prominent clan in Kiri before the uprising nearly a decade or two back. They can control water and ice like it's second nature to them. They're some of the world's best assassins and hunter-nins. But I heard that the clan had been wiped out during the uprising more than ten years ago. That girl from earlier must be a survivor. The Sasaki clan is one of the ninja nations' most prominent swordsmen clans. They're originally a samurai clan belonging to Tetsu no kuni."

"Tetsu no kuni? The Land of Iron?" Hinata mused, looking down at the match below as Hayate commenced the start of the match. "Isn't that the samurai land? The only neutral place in the entire world? Father told me that whenever the Great Six have kage meetings or diplomatic meetings after the end of a war, they tend to meet at Tetsu no kuni."

Takara nodded. "During the First Great Ninja War, even the war affected them. The Sasaki clan is directly charged with the direct protection of the daimyo of the Land of Iron and the country itself. And they did. But at the cost of the lives of over half of the swordsmen in the clan during the war. The clan was nearly wiped out, and whatever few survivors there are left Tetsu with the daimyo's blessing. Ever since then, there are rumours of them all over the nation. It is said that once a Sasaki unsheathes their sword, you had better start praying. You will _never _see their attack coming. You won't even know that you're dead until you see half of your body fall to the ground. It is rumoured that Kirigakure's Silent Killing is based off their technique. But who knows if it's true or not?"

"Come on, Takara, you're exaggerating," said Ino, nearly wincing at Temari whacked the Ame genin on the head with her fan.

"Unfortunately, she's not," said Kakashi, entering into the genins' conversation. "I met some of their clan members during the Third Great Shinobi War." He glanced over at Rihan who was getting congratulated by his teammates for his win. "It is during a brief period during the war when Tsuki got pissed off at us for attacking some of their ninjas by mistake, and actually torturing some of them for information when we've made the assumption that they're from an enemy nation." Kakashi shivered when he recalled just how angry Tsuki had been with them. "If truth be told, I'm very surprised that Tsuki didn't join forces with Kumo and Iwa to declare war on us, what with how they have felt about us."

"Is it because of this that Tsuki has never been fond of us?" Chouji asked curiously.

"I don't know. But probably." Kakashi sighed. "Though Tsuki has never been fond of us ever since their founding – all the way back to the time of the Second Great Ninja War. We never knew why as well. But back to what I was saying, when we've mistakenly tortured a few of Tsuki's ninjas, they got pissed off. The Tsukikage just sent two members from the Sasaki clan after one of their ninjas rescued the nins in our hands. At that time, just two members from the Sasaki clan wiped nearly an entire battalion out. The Tsukikage actually sent their remains back to us, with a note stating that he didn't want to keep what wasn't his."

"A Sasaki. A Yukina. And a Tatsuyama." Asuma mumbled. He then sighed. "Three of the world's most fearsome ninja clans competing in the chuunin exams. Oh dear."

"_Winner, Sabaku no Temari!"_

The scoreboard was running again, and everyone was staring at the screen. It was running a lot faster than before, probably because there were lesser people remaining. Kisuke who is eyeing the board hopefully felt his heart nearly stop at the two names displayed there.

_Hyuuga Hinata versus Kinuta Dosu_


	28. Chuunin Preliminaries Part III

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Eight: Chuunin Preliminaries Part III**

Hibiki (formerly Hyuuga) Neji screwed his eyes shut tightly beneath his blindfold, trying to ignore his cousin's screams currently going on in the arena below him, tightening his arms around his body, fighting tooth and nail to _not_ just go down there and to stop the match then and there.

Over with Team Gai, Higurashi Tenten and Rock Lee were both holding back a very pissed off Hyuuga Kisuke to prevent him from jumping down to the arena, and disqualifying his cousin.

It isn't a match at all. It is a _slaughter._

Nearly everyone in the village knew that the Hyuuga clan are masters at close hand-to-hand combat. It is common knowledge. And it wasn't until the end of the Third Great Shinobi War and when Namikaze Minato became the current Hokage that he made sure that all Hyuugas – at least the ones who were ninjas, knew at least some form of ninja arts like kenjutsu or even ninjutsu. But still, all Hyuugas are to at least master the Gentle Fist before they can even think of attempting other ninja arts.

And now, that 'tradition' is coming back to bite the Hyuuga clan in the ass as they watched their heiress getting pummeled down below by a very vengeful Oto-nin by the name of Kinuta Dosu. It is unfortunate that Hinata could not so much as get close to Dosu, as he is a long ranged specialist, and could keep her away from him easily by using those sound blasts of his. Clearly, he is in an entire league of his own, different from his other teammate who now has to say goodbye to his ninja career for good.

Neji gritted his teeth tightly. In their original timeline, would that have been him down there beating Hinata to within an inch of her life? No wonder Sayo had been so furious with him back then that she had kicked him right into the wall of the arena when Hayate had called their match!

It wasn't until nearly two years later when he learned from Sakura that his match with Hinata back then had caused severe damage to her health and her heart that she could not handle long and tedious tasks without it acting up. Hence why Hiashi-sama had been so worried back then, and had kept Neji as his elder daughter's personal bodyguard even as her little sister had been named as the heir. Hanabi had been worried about her sister too, and her first act as heiress is to put all kinds of clan protection that she knew of on her sister in order to prevent the clan elders from putting the Caged Bird Seal on her.

"Stop it!" Kisuke growled.

"Calm down, Kisuke!" Tenten struggled to keep her teammate in place. "I know how you feel, but if you jump down there right now, you'll disqualify your cousin! There is still a chance that she might win. But if you jump down there right now, not only will she lose, you will tear her pride to shreds!"

That managed to stop Kisuke moving for just a few moments. He remembered when Gai-sensei had gave them that pep talk the day when each of them had made their first kill as rookie genins when a supposedly simple C-rank mission had gotten bumped up to an A-rank.

_And what of pride? True, if you go to his aid now, his life would be saved. But at the same time, you would also tear his pride to shatters._

_Pride? Who cares about that? If we don't go and save him now—_

_Listen, the three of you. Listen, and you must remember this well. There are two kinds of battles. A battle to preserve life, and a battle to defend one's honour. And each and every single time whenever we fight, we must determine the kind of battle that we are actually engaging ourselves into. Call it foolish pride if you must, but you must let him finish this battle alone._

Kisuke shook even as Tenten and Lee finally released their holds on him, finally seeing that he wasn't about to jump down to the arena and stop the fight.

'_That's right. This is a battle that Hinata-sama is fighting to defend pride. Her own pride. The Hyuuga clan's pride. The village's pride.'_ Kisuke shivered, tightening his arms around himself and screwing his eyes shut so that he can't see the fight going on below him. _'This is a battle that I can't interfere in. Don't die, Hinata-sama…'_

Gekkou Hayate watched with barely hidden anger at the 'match', if one can even call it that. Finally, as he saw the Hyuuga heiress slumping down to the floor, and making small noticeable motions to get to her feet, he took his chance. He, along with all Konoha jounins here, have no wish to see a Leaf genin fighting for her life in the ICU, even with the elemental nations' best medic currently present in the village.

"I'm calling the match!" Hayate called out quickly. "Winner, Kinuta Dosu!"

But the Oto genin either didn't hear or just plain ignored Hayate as he pointed those 'air blasts' things on his arms at Hinata who was just struggling to stay on her feet. "Die!" he snarled.

"Stop! The match is over!" Hayate made a quick movement towards Dosu.

But he never reached the Oto-nin.

There was a resounding crack as Dosu was kicked into the wall behind him, causing several large cracks to appear in the wall, along with having the cement of the wall knocked out due to the impact made. The impact was enough to cause the Oto genin to black out immediately.

Sasaki Rihan caught the Hyuuga heiress in his arms as she passed out, ignoring the gobsmacked expressions on everyone's faces, especially Hyuuga Kisuke who looked as if he had just swallowed a lemon.

An _extremely_ sour lemon.

Rihan laid Hinata gently down on the ground even as Hinata's jounin instructor appeared on her other side, screaming for the medics. Hyuuga Kisuke leapt down to the arena a moment later, running towards his cousin's side, barely being restrained by his jounin instructor who had arrived, along with nearly all the other Leaf jounins.

Ignoring them all, the silver haired Tsuki-nin placed two fingers by Hinata's neck, then examining her pulse by her wrist, and a frown appeared on Rihan's face.

All Tsuki-nins were trained in first aid and the most basics of medic ninjutsu before they even became a genin. It is the one requirement in Tsuki for them to even become ninjas, as they would not always have a medic with them, and must at least learn the most basic of medic ninjutsu to save their own lives if necessary.

"This isn't good." Rihan muttered, placing Hinata's hand gently back onto the ground. He can barely feel a pulse. That Oto-nin sure got her good. He gave a glare at the Oto-nin who is currently getting dug out from the walls by some Konoha chuunins.

"What?" Kurenai asked, panicked, looking from Hinata to Rihan and back again. "What is wrong with my student?"

Ignoring Kurenai, Rihan turned his face upwards to the second level of the arena where his team is. "Haku!" he bellowed at the top of his voice.

The ice maiden was beside Rihan even before he had finished yelling for her, concentrating on the Hyuuga heiress who is going dangerously pale. Haku narrowed her eyes dangerously when she felt for a pulse and found the same thing that Rihan did – that she barely has one. At least, not a strong and stable one.

"I'm performing emergency treatment level one." Haku said quickly, looking at Rihan, and Kyo immediately shunshined next to Rihan, both boys listening intently to Haku. All ninjas of Tsukigakure no sato were trained in all kinds of battle situations, including ones where the medic-nins requires support to save their patient.

"What is going on?" Kisuke asked. "What is happening to my cousin? Where are all the medics?"

"We have no time to lose!" Haku snapped. "I'm afraid that this is way out of the league of the medics that you have here. This girl only has moments left before her heart stops beating. I'm going to try to save her life." She turned towards Rihan and Kyo. "I'm going to attempt emergency treatment level one. I need you both to support me."

Both boys nodded. They knew what emergency treatment level one means. It basically meant that they are the 'batteries' for Haku, and is there to sustain her chakra level, and also to pour chakra into her patient to at least keep them alive long enough in order for the medic to work their magic.

"Let's get started." Haku ordered, even as green glowing chakra surrounded her hands and she pressed it down on Hinata's chest after unzipping the latter's jacket, revealing the black fishnet shirt worn beneath.

Katou nee Senju Tsunade who had been one of the jounins down on the arena was shocked and surprised at the amount of healing chakra that this girl is currently pouring into Hinata that had to be two times greater than the chakra capacity that a normal genin her age should have. The blonde medic had wanted to heal Hinata herself, but had held herself back when she saw that the Tsuki medic had it all under control. And she herself was curious to know just what they are capable of as well.

Tsunade had heard from her old perverted teammate in the past who had heard from _his_ old students who are currently the rulers of Amegakure that Tsuki is supposedly at the top in the sealing arts. She knows for one that Minato had nearly drooled at that when Jiraiya had told them, and that they had an entire library full of fuuinjutsu scrolls and books that is enough to make any seals master green with envy.

Seals masters are pretty rare after all.

In fact, Tsunade only knew of her old teammate, Minato, and the wife of the Tsukikage to be seal masters. And the Tsukikage's wife is supposedly the best that there is, having been the one to design the seal to hide the entire village of Tsukigakure from prying eyes. Even the civilians from the neighbouring villages in Tsuki no kuni doesn't exactly know the exact location of the ninja village, and nearly every single ninja village on the continent has been trying to track down the exact location for _years._

And if the rumours that Jiraiya had heard from Yahiko are true, Tsukigakure is also supposedly there at the top when it comes to medic ninjutsu. They took it extremely seriously there, and has medic ninjutsu advanced to the point that it could make even her, the Queen of Elixirs, green with envy, and look like a complete amateur.

And right now, as Tsunade watched the Tsuki genins at work, she realised that those rumours are true. The female Tsuki jounin, Tsukishiro Seina, doesn't seem worried in the least, and was watching the genins calmly from her place on the second level of the arena, her male companion beside her – Momochi Zabuza.

More and more chakra Haku poured into Hinata, and she doesn't seem tired in the least, though that could be due to the fact that Rihan had his hands atop Haku's shoulders, and was currently pouring his chakra into her. Kyo was pouring his chakra into Hinata, and both boys looked as if they have done this before which they probably had.

Tsunade watched on in interest, and Kushina and Minato both watched on with interest as well. They have never seen a medic procedure like this before, and it seems strangely effective, as Hinata had already regained some of her colour and complexion. Even the visible injuries on her person are slowly healing.

The bruises on Hinata's face are fading away slowly, and Tsunade made a mental note to meet up with the Tsukikage or whoever that he will send if he couldn't make it during the final round of the chuunin exams. Such a complicated looking medic procedure, and yet a _genin_ can do it in their village. What other medic ninjutsu were they capable of? No wonder they have hidden themselves away ever since the end of the last shinobi war!

The entire arena was watching this in awe, and the three Tsuki genins either didn't notice or didn't care, as they were all focused on healing the injured girl in front of them. Kisuke was praying to every god that he ever knew that his cousin would pull through, though he knew that if she does, the Hyuuga clan, and by default, Konoha, would owe a life debt to Tsuki for saving one of their own, especially the heiress of a prominent ninja clan.

It is extremely old ninja traditions at work, written down from the time of the Rikudo Sennin, and had remained until today. Having owed a life debt, Konoha and the Hyuuga clan would be duty and honour bound to help Tsuki in the future, and even to protect them if necessary, particularly the ones who have saved the life of the Hyuuga heiress.

"I'm moving onto her heart." Haku stated, moving her glowing hands down to Hinata's chest, and she frowned at what she had found. "This isn't good."

"What?" Kurenai asked, panicked.

"Her heart is…extremely messed up." Haku frowned, trying to make sense of what she can feel. "I'm not sure just how much I can fix, but I'll try my best. If you rush her into emergency surgery, it'll be too late for her. There isn't a moment to lose."

Hearing that Hinata's heart is damaged caused Tsunade and Kushina to pale instantly, as they both knew just how dangerous and tricky an injured heart can be, having healed their share of patients during the war who suffered from heart problems due to lack of oxygen going through their veins due to severe blood loss. The two women then glared at the Oto-nin who is _still_ getting dug out from the arena walls.

Sasaki Rihan sure can kick hard…

Haku then moved her hands so that she is now touching the area where Hinata's heart is. "Kyo, her left side." She commanded.

Kyo nodded and obeyed, moving his hands to Hinata's left side and pouring chakra into that area alone to stabilise the condition of the injured heart.

Haku then closed her eyes and started getting a 'feel' for the heart's condition as she started fixing the damage, just like how Seina-sensei had taught her during their medic lessons. The heart is the one organ that is the trickiest to treat, especially since it is the one organ that holds the human life, and also the most vulnerable. Thus, whenever treating injuries that the medic could not see, they have to 'feel' it by using their own chakra – a medic technique that Seina had came up with a few years ago.

Kisuke activated his Byakugan, and was almost taken aback by the amount of chakra that he could see was getting poured into his cousin. He was shocked to see that nearly all of Hinata's internal injuries were nearly healed, and that the damage that her heart had suffered is slowly healing.

"She's getting her colour back." Kushina said in amazement and shock, shocked that a mere genin could perform such an advanced medic technique that she thought only Tsunade could do. Just how much more advanced in medic ninjutsu is Tsuki, compared to Konoha?

Haku nearly jumped when a hand tapped her arm, and she turned only to see Seina's solemn face. Nearly all surrounding Leaf ninjas jumped as well. When did she get there? They didn't even see the Tsuki jounin until she had 'announced' her presence!

"Enough, Haku." Seina sighed. "She's mostly healed now. Let the Konoha medics take over. You don't want to stave off training for the next five days, do you, whilst being restricted to rest?"

Haku frowned before she let her chakra die, and both Rihan and Kyo fell onto their behinds, sighing in relief. It might look easy, but it is really difficult to control the exact precision of their chakra to just pump in enough for both the medic and the patient. There is a reason after all, why both boys never learned any medic ninjutsu beyond the most basic ones that are required for them to be genins.

Tsunade nodded gratefully to Seina and Haku as she examined Hinata, and bellowed for the Konoha medics on duty that day to 'grab a stretcher' and to 'get their asses and the patient to the emergency room'.

"Thank you very much!" Hyuuga Kisuke, to the surprise of everyone who knew him, bowed to Haku. "Thank you!"

Haku waved his thanks away. "I'm a medic. I'm just doing my job," she said.

Rihan meanwhile, was glaring at Kinuta Dosu as the remaining medics took him away on a stretcher, having managed to dig him out at last. And by the looks of it, he has suffered at least five broken bones.

"Don't, Rihan." Kyo placed a hand on his shoulder as Rihan reached for his sword. "It's not worth it. At least wait for the finals."

Rihan scowled. "Che."

* * *

There was a ten minute intermission as the arena grounds were mopped up for the next match, and Tsunade had returned by then, stating, to the relief of all Leaf-nins, that Hinata is all right. There wasn't much for her to heal, as Haku had done most of it. Now, all that remains is for Hinata to rest and heal up in the hospital.

Tenth match was Sabaku no Gaara versus Rock Lee.

It was quite easily the bloodiest match that anyone had ever seen in their lives, and just as un-merciful. Gaara was practically just toying around with Lee, tossing him around like a ragdoll, and had crushed his arm and leg before Hayate had ended the match.

It was with a very sombre mood that the eleventh match was announced, Akimichi Chouji versus Hyuuga Kisuke.

The poor Akimichi was simply no match for the angry Hyuuga who needed to blow off some steam because of what had happened to his cousin, then his teammate who had nearly died just _before_ his match. The end result was that Kisuke attained a win without so much as a scratch.

The last match was Aburame Shino versus the last Ame genin. The match was a quick one, as Shino basically just drained his opponent of all his chakra before the Ame genin collapsed from chakra exhaustion.

And so, all the genins who have qualified to the final round of the chuunin examinations were then told to line up before Mitarashi Anko who held out a box and told them to draw lots, much to their confusion. The lots that each genin drew had a number written on it. As Sasuke wasn't there, Sakura had drawn for him.

Anko wrote down the numbers that each genin that had qualified to the next round onto the clipboard that she had with her, and she then cleared her throat.

"All right, the numbers that you lot has drawn will determine your opponents for the final round of the chuunin examinations," she stated, turning her clipboard around and showing the genins the line ups for the finals.

_First Match: Namikaze Takara versus Sabaku no Temari_

_Second Match: Sasaki Rihan versus Kinuta Dosu_

_Third Match: Aburame Shino versus Sabaku no Kankuro_

_Fourth Match: Tatsuyama Kyo versus Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke_

_Fifth Match: Yukina Haku versus Sabaku no Gaara_

_Sixth Match: Winner of fifth match versus Hyuuga Kisuke_

"There will be one month before the finals of the chuunin examinations will take place." Anko stated. "I suggest that you use this time wisely. Dismissed!"

**XXXXXX**

It was late at night, and Hyuuga Hinata couldn't sleep at all.

With the number of tubes and wires currently attached to her person via the several machines by her bedside in the hospital, Hinata could not really move around much. The doctors and medics have all told her how lucky she was. If those Tsuki-nins haven't been there, and had done all that they could to heal the most serious of her injuries, she would have been on a one-way trip to meet the Shinigami himself.

Her father had nearly tore down the door of her hospital room in a panic not even five hours earlier, with an equally panicky sister, a worried cousin, and her uncle who is the only one to keep his wits and composure with him, and had offered to pay the hospital for the broken door.

Her father and sister have heard from Kisuke about the severity of her injuries, but before Kisuke could finish his story, both have bolted off, _without_ hearing that the Tsuki-nins have managed to bring her back from death's door. Hiashi and Hanabi were very relieved to hear this, and have tried to find the Tsuki-nins to thank them personally, but none of them could be found at all.

Most have assumed in the beginning that they must have gone back home to train for the finals, as not all the finalists would be staying in Konoha for the one month break, but Minato had said that they hadn't gone home. As such, no one knew where they are, only that they are somewhere in the village still.

"You look well," said a voice from her windowsill, and Hinata nearly jumped. She then turned only to see the silver haired Tsuki genin – Sasaki Rihan, sitting on her windowsill, one leg propped up, leaning with his back against the window. "That's a relief."

"My cousin told me what you and your teammates have done for me." Hinata said, bowing her head to him. "Thank you."

Rihan waved her away. "We did what anyone would have done," he answered. "Furthermore, if you want to thank anyone, thank Haku." He turned to look out of the window at the full moon in the sky. "Have you ever gone moon gazing before?"

"Huh?" Hinata blinked at this odd question. "N-Not really. I used to go stargazing with my mother when she was still alive. But I don't do that anymore."

"I see." Rihan smiled a small smile. "Maybe it's Tsuki tradition or something, but the inhabitants of Tsuki goes moon gazing from time to time. The view here in Konoha is different from what we can see in Tsuki." He added. "Things always happen on nights when there is a full moon. The moon has strange powers after all. It is what we believed in Tsuki."

"I heard." Hinata said quietly. "I heard the rumours that there is always a moon to be seen in the skies in Tsukigakure no sato. And the only time that you can see the village is only on the nights of the new moon." She glanced at Rihan who had a calculating look on his face. "Is that true?"

"Who knows?" Rihan said mysteriously.

Hinata giggled before she winced as she pulled on her injuries and held her chest, clenching at the fabric around her heart. Bandages were bound around her chest, as Dosu had done quite a number on her. Tsunade had restricted her to bed rest for a month, and no strenuous activity. Before her family had left the hospital after visiting hours were over, her sister had proclaimed that she would come by to visit every single day so that she don't get bored, and she will drag Kisuke with her as well. Kisuke's annoyed look had caused Hinata to laugh then.

Rihan looked at Hinata without saying anything. He sighed. "Haku didn't want me to say anything, but I think it best if you know should you ever attend the finals," he said, and Hinata turned towards Rihan. The silver haired genin had a serious look on his face. "I'm up against Kinuta Dosu in the finals." He informed her, and Hinata nodded, already knowing this bit of information since her cousin her already filled her in. "And I won't show any mercy." Rihan's voice was cold. "If you thought what Kyo did to his opponent is scary, then you'll have to find a new definition for that word once you witness what I will do to Kinuta Dosu. I seriously have no idea if I will be able to hold myself back from killing him." Rihan sighed loudly. "I hadn't been this pissed for a long time now." He muttered darkly.

"But… Why?" Hinata asked, pale, as she remembered what the Tatsuyama heir had done to his opponent during the preliminaries. If Kyo can do that, then what can Rihan do? "I'm not your teammate or even from the same village, so why…?"

Rihan glanced critically at Hinata. "I don't need a reason," he said simply. "Same as how we don't need a reason to save you. More than anyone else, Kyo and I knew what it is like to be belittled and spoken down to. I grew up with Kyo, and saw what he had gone through as a child. And Kyo especially knew what it is like." He sighed. "You're the Hyuuga heiress. You should know of the Tatsuyama clan's reputation around the elemental nations." Hinata nodded timidly. "Then you should know what they could do. Even in Tsuki, the Tatsuyama clan is feared. They are respected, but at the same time, they are also feared for their power. And who could blame them? Kyo nearly lost control of his power once when he lost his temper. If Sayo-sama, our Tsukikage's wife, hadn't been in the vicinity, let's just say that both Haku and I wouldn't be here today."

Hinata paled. She then smiled weakly at Rihan, a part of her feeling happy that a complete stranger actually cares enough for her to do something like this to her opponent in the chuunin preliminaries.

"Can I give you a message?"

Rihan raised a brow. "Depends on the message," he stated bluntly.

"Don't kill him." Hinata said. "Please."

Rihan raised a brow. The next moment, he then nearly fell off the window as a new voice entered the conversation, and both genins turned only to see Yukina Haku perched on the windowsill on the other corner, giving both Rihan and Hinata weird looks.

"As much as I would love to see you continue playing Romeo and Juliet in the middle of the night, Rihan, sensei is calling." Haku said sarcastically, and Rihan blushed. "We're leaving in ten, so say your goodbyes." She then nodded to Hinata politely and vanished with a quick shunshin.

Rihan sighed. "I guess they found me," he muttered. He glanced at Hinata. "Well, I have to be going. I'm afraid that I won't be seeing you for a month at least. My sensei is taking us to train in the woods just outside Konoha. Something about too many potential spies in the village." He grumbled, and Hinata giggled. "I'll see you at the finals?"

Hinata nodded. "If the medics have cleared me by then, yes," she said. "Good luck for the finals."

Rihan grinned darkly. "I think that it's Kinuta Dosu who needs that luck more than I do," he said mysteriously. "Bye. I'll see you again, Hinata-san."

He then vanished.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the late update, people! I have an extreme case of writer's block, and not to mention I'm busy catching up on all my games from where I've last played it, seeing as how it's currently my holidays. And it's back to school in a week! Where did all the time go?_

_Anyway, finals next chapter, and yes, Sasuke bashing galore too. He won't be **that** much of an ass, as he had Sakumo and Sakura as his adoptive parents in this story, and Kakashi as an older brother of sorts. And regarding Sayo, she will make an appearance along with Madara during the invasion arc._

_So I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_

_**Upcoming Stories:**_

_**Into the Ashes (Harry Potter)**_

_After having the wizarding world turn on her like it did after the world, Hilda Potter fled, and in desperation, used a forbidden power that she swore to never use only to be sent on an even bigger task. A task that is even greater than Voldemort himself. HP/Tsubasa crossover. Fye/Hilda_


	29. Siren's Call

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Nine: Siren's Call**

_Clang! Clang! Clash!_

Yukina Haku landed horizontally with her feet pressed against the tree trunk, a pair of curved blades in hand, sweat adorning her brow. She then propelled off the tree trunk once more, with Sasaki Rihan parrying her blades with a pair of tantos, before both leapt backwards from each other, breaths coming in heavy pants.

"Keep moving! Don't stop now!" Momochi Zabuza shouted from his position from a nearby tree.

It had been over a week ever since the chuunin preliminaries have ended, and both Zabuza and Seina have taken team five out to the forest surrounding Konoha to train, in an attempt to escape spying eyes. As a side precaution, Seina has set up a barrier dome that conceals them and their 'training ground' from prying eyes as well. They can see outside, but no one can see inside.

The only time when they have ever left the barrier dome is when either Zabuza or Seina went into the village to buy supplies for food, and even then, they never stayed long. As none of the Ame genins have made it into the finals, they have returned to their village, but Nagato and Konan have stayed behind.

Zabuza and Seina have taken it in turns to train the genins, as each jounin have different specializations. As Zabuza is originally from Kiri, and had been a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, he is a master in swordplay and water jutsus, and even silent killing. He literally doesn't need his eyes in order to function in a fight.

Seina on the other hand, has a more elegant and gentle fighting style as compared to Zabuza's. As a medic-nin, she knew the fatal and lethal points to strike on a human body, and is well skilled with accuracy and close combat. And not to mention that she is also a master in mind games; something that she had apparently picked up from Sayo.

Haku and Rihan have been sparring against each other in all kinds of shinobi combat; ninjutsu, kenjutsu, taijutsu, and even on their fuuinjutsu skills. Kyo on the other hand had been training separately from them, as Sayo had left behind further instructions on what and how to instruct him in his training after the second round of the chuunin exams.

Hence why Tatsuyama Kyo is currently sitting at least thirty meters away from his two teammates and sensei, sitting cross-legged on the ground, his eyes closed and arms tucked into his sleeves, trying to concentrate. Seina was sitting on the tree branch of the tree behind him, studying him carefully. Three unlit white candles was sitting in a row in front of Kyo, with a pile of burned candles lying uselessly by the side, with another pile of unused candles in another corner.

Kyo twitched as the repeated clangs and clashes of metal against metal resounded again and again, and his eyes snapped opened. "I can't concentrate!" he shouted, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

With a loud whoosh, dark energy surrounded the area where he is in, and when Kyo blinked again, it was to see the three candles in front of him melted down to their wicks – completely useless.

"Oops." Kyo muttered.

Seina sighed as she jumped down to the ground, walking over to Kyo. "And exactly why you're training here," she said patiently, taking out another three candles from the pile of boxes that contains the unused candles, and setting it in front of Kyo. She threw the three useless candles to the side, adding it to the already large pile. "And also why I've taken off the restrainer and limiter seals that Sayo had put on you. You need to learn how to control your power, instead of the other way around." She told Kyo sternly. "Or do you want a repeat of the incident that had happened at the Academy years ago?"

Kyo looked away, abashed.

He still remembered what had happened back then. It had all started when a senior Academy student had started badmouthing Kyo and his parents and clan, and he snapped. He then lost control of his powers momentarily, nearly incinerating everything within distance. He had nearly killed Rihan and Haku then too. It was just pure luck and sheer coincidence that Sayo had happened to be nearby, and she managed to stop him.

Seina sighed, kneeling down to Kyo's eye level. "Kyo, look at me," she said sternly, and Kyo turned ashamed looking eyes towards Seina. "Never be ashamed of who you are. You don't have to hide yourself or your abilities." Seina placed a hand on Kyo's shoulder. "You are strong. You have the potential to evolve even further. The only thing that stands in the way of that is yourself. Your own fear of your abilities, and your lack of control. I'm here to help you with that."

Kyo said nothing for several moments. "Sayo-sama said…that the Tatsuyama clan is a special clan. She said that I have no need to feel ashamed of my own abilities."

"And she's right," said Seina. "Several times in the past, it is the Tatsuyama clan who had saved the village. People will feel uncomfortable around a Tatsuyama, but never be ashamed of who you are. Let's continue."

Kyo sighed. "I just can't do it," he said in dismay.

"I know a little about your clan's abilities over Life and Death," said Seina. "You can generate life as well as take it away. You manipulate space and nature. And that is just the surface of what the Tatsuyama clan is capable of. To teach you control, Sayo came up with this method – a method that she and Madara have both used when they have just gotten their Eternal Mangekyou, and needed to learn control." Kyo looked more interested at this, as everyone in the village knew about the history about the kage of their village and his wife. "I want you to light one candle out of the three whilst utilizing your ability to generate life."

Kyo frowned. "Come to think of it, whenever I heal someone or take away life, it is more like I'm manipulating time, space and the molecules on their body." He realised. "I just take the life of something else living, and transfer that living energy to heal someone. It is more like I'm…reversing time on their body. I manipulate nature and space. Haku said something like that before."

Seina nodded. "That is just the barest of what the Tatsuyama clan is capable of. Your clan isn't said to be the 'Longevity' clan for nothing. Your full abilities as a Tatsuyama aren't fully unlocked yet. It gets released as you grow older, when your body can adapt to your abilities. Ever wonder why your clan members tends to stay looking young even when they're in their fifties? It has to do with their blood too."

Kyo nodded slowly. "So you're saying that in order to bring out the full potential of my abilities, I need to learn control?" he said slowly.

Seina nodded. "But we'll go about with this differently, since all previous attempts seemed to have backfired." She glanced around before landing eyes on Haku and Rihan who were both still sparring. "All right. You only have one try at this." Seina stated, putting up one finger, and Kyo cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Imagine those candles as those precious to you – your friends; Rihan and Haku, and maybe Zabuza, Sayo or Madara. You only one chance to save them. No second chances. If you fail, they die." Seina took a step back. "Now, give it a try."

"Right…" Kyo gulped as he turned his attention back towards those three candles once more, eyeing it as if it might turn into a monster at any moment.

Kyo had always been a little afraid of his own power going out of control one day and killing his friends and those precious to him. It had been because of this fear too that Sayo had placed those seals on him when he was first assigned to a genin team.

He had been a special case; as both Sayo and Madara knew fully well that not everyone could work with a Tatsuyama clan member. In the past, most members of the Tatsuyama clan works alone, or in pairs; usually with a fellow clan member. Thus why most members of the Tatsuyama clan generally tend to work as Oinins (hunter-nins) or were even part of the elite force that guards the portal seals that could be found all over Tsuki no kuni – the only entrances to the village itself.

Thus why Sayo had personally handpicked Kyo's genin teammates. Rihan and Haku are the only ones who were neutral towards the Tatsuyama clan for several reasons. One of those being that they knew Kyo since early childhood, and had always been there for him even throughout his time in captivity after the disastrous event in the Academy. Another being that Rihan and Haku are different from most kids their ages, and they knew it; thus, why they could connect well with Kyo.

But even Kyo knew that he couldn't always depend on seals to contain his power forever.

'_Rihan… Haku… Sensei… Sayo-sama…'_ Kyo thought to himself, and for just a split moment, he could swear that he saw their faces overlapping with the candles. He then took a deep breath, steely determination in his eyes. _'I can do it. I can't keep getting scared of my powers all the time. I control __**them**__. Not the other way around.'_

Sayo's voice then rang through his head just then.

_Besides, wouldn't it be better if you were in control instead of the other way around? Those are **your** powers, your abilities. You control them. Not let them control you._

Kyo closed his eyes. _'Concentrate. I can do this.'_

His eyes snapped opened.

**XXXXXX**

Later that night, the three genins could be seen huddling around a campfire in the barrier, trying to keep themselves warm. Night time in the forest is always especially cold, thus, they often have to maintain the fire throughout the night just to keep themselves warm. The two jounins were currently somewhere in the forest, trying to find enough firewood to keep the fire burning the entire night.

"So up against that Uchiha, huh?" Rihan was the first one to break the silence, glancing towards the extremely silent Kyo. He had finally started joining Rihan and Haku in their regular sparring sessions against each other, only now it's a three-way sparring session. "Some luck you've got."

Kyo snorted. "Tell me about it," he stated. "And it's not like we've got the best luck on our side anyway; with the missions that we usually get."

Rihan snorted, and Haku giggled.

Ever since they've become genin, there is quite an impressive list of missions on their record; some that they've somehow ended up taking by mistake. Usually, the C-rank and low B-rank missions that they've taken will either be the most boring of the lot, or will either be classified wrongly, and is really a high A-rank or low S-rank mission. Not the best luck that a genin team could have, but then again, they must have the devil's luck to be able to stay alive until today.

"I've heard from Seina-san that the Uchiha is supposedly the Rookie of the Year in Konoha, and supposed to be the best ninja that they ever had." Haku stated.

"Yeah right." Rihan snorted in disbelief. "If you saw how he had fought and how he had performed during the prelims, you'll know better than to believe those rumours." Both his teammates nodded in agreement. "Wouldn't surprise me if his exam scores are rigged or something. Rookie of the Year…" He shook his head. "I'll believe that when I see a blue moon."

"By the way… Where are Zabuza-sensei and Seina-san?" Kyo wondered, looking around. "They've been gone for quite awhile."

**XXXXXX**

"Just how did you end up losing our _weeks' worth _of food supplies anyway?" Seina hissed, glaring at a cringing Zabuza, disposal bags in both hands, both containing foods and supplies of all kinds that the two Tsuki jounins have just bought at Konoha's local supermarket. Fortunately for them, Konoha's local supermarket is open twenty four hours a day, especially since the Leaf ninjas are often awake at all odd hours of the day, particularly those on night patrol duty.

"I already said that I was sorry!" Zabuza retorted, flushing beneath his bandages at having a female jounin smaller than he was reprimanding him for at least four hours ever since losing their supplies.

The former Kiri-nin didn't forget however, that no matter how young that Seina looks, she is easily five times older than he is, and thus, could easily kick his ass. Sayo had said something like that once when he and Haku have first joined the village.

The level and fighting ability of the ninjas in the current generation couldn't be compared to the skill level of the ninjas that had existed during the time of the shinobi clan wars. Even an elite jounin in the current generation would look like a fresh behind the ears genin when being compared to the ninjas back during the time of the shinobi clan wars. That is just how far that the skill level and ability of the ninjas had dropped.

Seina groaned to herself. "Come on, let's hurry back. I'm sure that the genins are probably starved," she stated before she turned towards the direction that would take them towards Konoha's gates. Zabuza turned to follow her, but as he did so, Seina stopped dead in her tracks just then, and turned sharply towards the side.

"What?" Zabuza asked, perplexed.

Seina narrowed her eyes. "There is a strange feeling in the air," she muttered. "The wind had just switched directions…" She glanced at Zabuza. "Someone's battling. Come on."

"Huh? Seina-san?" Zabuza called out, but followed Seina over the rooftops all the same.

* * *

"It can't be helped." Gekkou Hayate coughed, drawing his sword, facing off against the Suna jounin instructor of that Sand team that had qualified for the finals of the chuunin examinations. His _brilliant_ idea of spying on the Sand jounin and that silver-haired _supposedly_ long time genin of Konoha had backfired remarkably when they've caught him spying on them.

Hayate then entered a stance, and Baki, the Sand jounin smirked. "Ho? The Crescent Moon? Remarkable for someone this young to have mastered it and being able to use it in battle," he stated. "However…" He held out his right hand, and Hayate froze when he could distinctly feel the changes in the air and atmosphere.

With a top ANBU operative as a girlfriend, he is bound to pick up some tricks of the ANBU trade. And not to mention that his best friend is Shiranui Genma, the only other jounin that he knew of in Konoha that uses swords and senbons in combat, though not many knew that Genma uses swords, as he rarely uses it in combat, preferring senbons instead.

Baki smirked. "Nothing in this world is stronger and more powerful than a sword of wind." The Suna jounin stated. "This is over!" And he moved.

Hayate couldn't seem to move as he watched Baki descend upon him like a hungry wolf. _'I'm sorry, Yugao. I'm sorry, Hokage-sama…'_

But Baki's sword of wind never touched Hayate, as it was stopped in mid-air, being parried by a silver gleaming knuckle blade with three holes in the blade itself, glowing faintly with chakra.

Uchiha (also otherwise known as Tsukishiro) Seina glared at a severely shocked Baki.

"It is true; that nothing in this world is stronger than a blade of wind," she stated. "But it is useless if you use nullifying chakra in order to guard against it!" She hissed, increasing her chakra input into the knuckle blade that she is using, and Baki's sword of wind immediately dispersed itself.

With Sayo having been an advanced wind user herself, putting even the best of Suna wind users in the current generation to shame, Seina is bound to pick up a few tricks from her best friend. Sayo's main chakra affinity of wind had been a rare one, as most Uchihas have affinities to lightning and fire – the combat and destructive elements. Seina is only one of the few that have affinities to fire and water.

'_What the—? How did she—?' _A severely shocked Baki could barely wrap his brain around the supposed to be _impossible _feat before Seina swung her foot around and caught him easily in the head. Baki's head immediately exploded with pain and stars. And before he could recover, he felt a chakra-insulated hand grabbing him tightly by the neck and slamming him down to the rooftop of the building that he is on. The force behind that impact is actually enough to knock several roof tiles off.

Hayate who is currently crouched in a corner, trying to stop himself from coughing his own lungs up can only stare with wide eyes, either not noticing or ignoring the fact that Momochi Zabuza had just arrived on the scene, and is merely standing silently in a corner.

'_Holy shit—!' _Hayate thought uneasily, staring at Seina uneasily. _'Something tells me that it is __**not**__ a wise thing to piss her off.' _

The sickly jounin is starting to believe Genma when he had said that Tsuki-nins are pretty powerful as a whole, probably even more powerful than Leaf-nins, if what had happened during the time of the Third Great Shinobi War is of any indication, and it is wise not to get on their bad side.

Konoha was just lucky at that time that the Tsukikage happened to be in a good mood or does not wants to drag his village into the war. Otherwise, Konoha might never have stood a chance against a ninja village that specialises in fuuinjutsu of the likes that has never been seen before, coupled with the forces of Iwagakure. How else would one explain the extremely complex seals that had done their job at hiding the entire village of Tsukigakure for well over fifty years, with not a soul knowing just where the ninja village of Tsukigakure is save for their own people?

"Okay, what is going on here?" Seina asked, glancing from Baki who is currently getting pinned down by the neck to the rooftop and to Hayate. Her knuckle blade is currently pressing against the jugular vein of Baki's, and the Suna jounin is smart enough to not move, lest he wants to lose his head.

Hayate coughed harshly. "I…overheard a conversation between him and…one of our Leaf genins that Hokage-sama had been suspicious of for some time now." Hayate told Seina, coughing harshly, feeling relieved at least that Tsuki doesn't appear to be an enemy at least. If they were, he doesn't think that he could escape alive, as if what the Tsuki _genins_ have displayed during the prelims are of any indication, then the _jounins_ are bound to be even more skilled. "They are…planning some sort of invasion on Konoha during the chuunin finals."

Zabuza's eyes widened, then narrowed itself. Seina narrowed her eyes dangerously and turned a venomous glare onto Baki who whimpered beneath her glare. Like Sayo, Seina had _that _Glare, only not as scary as Sayo's who could easily scare a vampire out of his wits.

"Is that true?" Seina asked, her voice as cold as ice. Baki could have sworn that the temperature of the surroundings had dropped at least ten degrees. "If so, then you are going to tell me everything that you know. Speak!" She commanded, her blade pressing even harder against his throat, causing a slight nick to his skin, and a trickle of blood flowed from the wound.

"I don't know." Baki lied, hoping to somehow get away alive from this woman, and if he should survive this, to offer more incense to his ancestors for their protection.

Oops. Wrong answer.

Seina's eyes narrowed even further. She pressed her blade even further against the jounin's neck. Just a twitch of her hand, and Baki will lose his head. "Look, I'm not one of Tsuki's top operatives for nothing. And neither am I their head medic-nin for _nothing,"_ she said coldly. "I know interrogation tactics and tricks that could make even the Bogey Man of Fire Country, Morino Ibiki, look like a novice entering the interrogation field for the first time."

That is true in a way.

Sayo had taught Seina some interrogation techniques and torture methods that could make even the most battle hardened ninja puke. But while Sayo is a master of the mind, Seina is a master at inflicting pain. She is a medic-nin after all. She knew just where to inflict the worse kind of pain possible on a human body.

Seina pressed her blade even further against Baki's neck who is now sweating bullets. He could almost hear his own pulse beating. "So if I'm you, I would speak the truth. And now. And don't you dare try to even lie to me. I'm a walking lie detector."

Baki clamped his lips shut and refused to speak. Whether he speak or not, this woman will kill him anyway. It would be what he would have done if he had been in her place. In Suna, they don't take prisoners alive unless they have vital information. And even so, they would kill them after they were done with them.

Seina sighed. "You _really _want me to do this the hard way, huh?" she mused.

Her eyes hardened, and she shifted her foot so that she is stepping directly on top of Baki's spine, inflicting some nerve racking pain that racked through Baki's entire body. Baki opened his mouth to scream, but before he could, Seina slammed his entire face down onto the roof, thus muffling his screams.

Both Hayate and Zabuza who were watching winced at this. Both men noted the same thing: women are scary. Hayate even made a mental note to _not_ let Seina and Yugao meet. Yugao would probably become more sadistic if so. And Izumo and Kotetsu don't need mental trauma and scarring atop physical pain. And on that note, let's keep Ibiki away from her as well, if she _is_ a better interrogator than him…

Seina tugged Baki's face back up, with all three ninjas present seeing that the Suna jounin had apparently broken his nose, as blood was streaming freely from it.

"Feel like talking yet?" Seina questioned icily. "If you still refuse to speak, then not only will I break your spine, which might I remind you, is one of the most painful injuries that you can receive, I'll also skin you alive." Her eyes are cold. "I'm sure that your genin team will be more than happy to receive the skin of their teacher as a farewell gift. After all, a human, particularly a ninja, can still stay alive even without their skin."

Hayate paled, and Zabuza blanched. He made a mental note to never _ever_ step into Tsuki's T&I headquarters whenever Seina is in there. He doesn't want to hear the screams of the prisoners that they've got there. And here he thought that Kisame is the sadistic bitch.

"I'm counting to five before I start skinning you alive." Seina stated. "Five. Four. Three. Two. On—"

"Fine! I'll talk!" Baki finally broke, his eyes staring in fear at the blade that Seina had been holding, with her holding it particularly close to his neck.

"And?" Seina drawled.

"The guy whom I'm meeting with is someone that is acting as our go-between between Otogakure and Suna!" Baki blurted out in a panic. "He is a plant planted here by their leader ever since he was young, posing as a failure of a genin in Konoha."

Seina glanced over at Hayate to confirm this bit of information, and he nodded, confirming Baki's words. "He's someone whom we'd been watching for some time now, upon Hokage-sama's orders." Hayate stated. "His name is Yakushi Kabuto, the adopted son of one of our top medics here."

"Yakushi Kabuto…" Zabuza mused, exchanging glances with Seina.

Madara had told them about this particular Leaf ninja to look out for, as they have suspected him to be involved with Raven's Gate. Apparently, this information had come directly from Orochimaru, and they knew that they could trust him when it comes to information on Konoha. And further news from Sayo who is still currently gathering intel had stated that this kid seems to be a bit of a double agent. He might be ranked as a genin, but he is at high jounin level easily.

"And what's this about an invasion?" Seina enquired 'nicely', though the blade that is currently pressing hard against Baki's Adam's apple spoke otherwise.

"Sunagakure had made an alliance with Otogakure!" Baki squeaked in fear. "The Wind daimyo had been slashing our budget by giving all our missions to Konoha, and our people are slowly dying, especially the sick, the elderly and the children! We didn't have a choice! We barely have enough ryo to get enough food and water and the basic necessities for our people! What would _you_ do if you were us?"

Zabuza and Seina exchanged looks once more.

They knew that things in Suna are bad, but they've never imagined it to be _this_ bad. The Wind daimyo is an idiot. _Of_ _course_ the Kazekage would do something if his village is on the verge of extinction, and his people is nearing demise. Any leader worth his salt would! A village leader _must_ always protect his village and people. The Kazekage is only doing what he thought would help and protect his village.

"When will the invasion begin?" Seina questioned.

"During the finals of the chuunin examination! I don't know just _when_ exactly!" Baki spluttered, trying to get his words out as fast as possible, nearly stumbling over his words as he did so. "Gaara is supposed to be the trump card of this invasion! That's all I know! I swear!"

Seina and Zabuza exchanged looks once more before Seina nodded, and she immediately knocked Baki out. The female jounin then got busy, drawing a seal in the middle of Baki's forehead, before focusing chakra on it, and the seal then glowed blue before disappearing.

"Well… That was informative." Zabuza grunted. "It sure explains a lot of things though."

"Yeah." Seina sighed, getting to her feet. She looked towards Hayate. "Think you can report to your Hokage about this?"

Hayate nodded. "Yeah," he said, coughing every now and then. "What about him?" He gestured towards Baki.

"We'll let him go back to his genin team and behave as if nothing is wrong," said Seina. She then held up a hand to stop the protests. "He won't remember a thing once he wakes up. All he will think is that he had taken care of the Konoha jounin that had overheard his conversation with Yakushi Kabuto. He won't remember that this particular Konoha jounin is you."

Hayate was confused, but Zabuza sighed, knowing what is going on now. "The Memory Altering Seal, huh?" he muttered, and Seina smiled and nodded.

The Memory Altering Seal had been something that Sayo had designed about ten or so years back when they across a Kumo team trying to infiltrate Tsuki no kuni. This had taken place right after the Hyuuga incident, and Sayo happened to be the one that had caught them. Needless to say, she wasn't pleased, and had allowed the interrogators at T&I to have a field day with them. They had managed to squeeze out every single bit of information that the Kumo jounins knew, even the identities of the two Kumo Jinchuurikis.

After that, Sayo had placed the Memory Altering Seal on them, completely altering their memories of having been caught by Tsuki, and being brought to their village. Following that, Madara have then left instructions for them to be dropped right inside the borders of Rai no kuni, as they have no wish to cause any further problems between Kumo and Tsuki by killing a team of their jounins.

That seal had then become standard procedure in Tsuki – to be placed on every single prisoner that Tsuki chooses to leave alive and to release, so that all information about Tsuki is completely wiped from their heads. And the only way for one to leave and to enter Tsuki is through one of the many travel portals that surrounds the village that is usually guarded by two ninjas – one usually a medic-nin. And as the only way for one to use the travel portals of the village is to have their chakra keyed into the guard and security system of the village, it is virtually impossible to leave without alerting Tsuki.

Thus why it is said that trying to infiltrate and leave Tsuki is rather similar to infiltrating a fortress. You might be able to enter, but you'll never escape alive. And all prisoners that Tsuki holds have a special seal bracelet on them that allows them access into the village until the bracelet is removed. Similar to the bracelets that the ninjas of Tsuki had on that transports them instantly back to the village during times of emergency.

"We'll hold the element of surprise that way." Seina informed Zabuza. She glances at Hayate. "We'll inform our kage, and decide what to do from there. Given who our top…spymaster is, I'm pretty sure that she knows about this invasion already. But as she had been away from the village for nearly a month, we hadn't had any news from her so far except for the occasional message or phone call from her."

"Maybe we should inform Amegakure too." Zabuza suggested. "Yahiko-san is pretty fond of Jiraiya-sama, as is the other two, and they would want to protect their sensei's village."

"Well, Ame-nins _do_ specialise in infiltration and surprise techniques after all, and not to mention trap building." Seina mused. _'And most of our trap techniques that we currently have originated from Ame after all.'_

With the alliance that Tsuki had with Ame, as part of the alliance, Ame and Tsuki have exchanged techniques. Yahiko had traded some of Ame's best trap building techniques as well as infiltration techniques in exchange for some of Tsuki's seals. Sayo had even designed a fairly elaborate seal that hides the village of Ame from prying eyes – rather similar to the one that hides Tsuki, only less complex.

Hayate nodded slowly and coughed. "I'll report to Hokage-sama right now," he stated. "He won't be pleased at being woken up at this hour, since it is one of the rare days when he could be home early with his family, but it can't be helped." Seina and Zabuza exchanged grins. Madara wasn't pleased at having his 'private time' with Sayo interrupted whenever a ninja has to make an emergency report either. "He'll probably like to hear your view of things too. I know that we do not have an alliance with Tsuki, but—"

"We'll see the Hokage if we can find the time to get back to Konoha." Zabuza interrupted. "We're currently busy training our students."

Hayate grinned. "Ah. If what those three have showed in the prelims is of any indication, then I pity whoever they've drawn as their opponents," he stated, and coughed harshly. "I would hate to be their enemy once they're a little older."

Seina sighed. "I'm giving you a medical check up after the exams," she muttered. "A cough is a problem even for a ninja."

Hayate blushed. "I had this problem ever since I'm a chuunin. An injury that I suffered from during a mission." He explained. "I'll get going to Hokage-sama now. See you both around."

Zabuza and Seina both nodded, and Hayate then leapt off across rooftops, heading towards the sector where the clan houses are. Zabuza sighed before picking up the unconscious Sand jounin with one arm. "I'll drop this guy off at his hotel room," he stated.

Seina nodded slowly before she narrowed her eyes as she surveyed Zabuza and frowned when she didn't see what he had with him moments before. "Zabuza, where are the shopping bags?" she enquired.

Zabuza looked puzzled for several moments before his memory came back to him, and he glanced around himself before looking sheepish.

"Oops."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the long delay! As usual, a case of writer's block! Anyway, some news for you guys who have been following me and my stories ever since I've started on FF. Would you be interested in reading some original stories of my own making? If so, then I've created an account on LiveJournal where I'm hosting some original stories._

_Chapters of a few of my FF stories are available for download there as well. The link to my LiveJournal account could be found on my profile. I've gotten a new idea for a novel length original story, but I probably won't start on it until my term break, as I'm juggling too many things lately, with two upcoming film projects, and a ten minute long film script to write. I will also deeply appreciate it if you can drop off a comment or two at my LJ account._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_


	30. For Her Sake

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty: For Her Sake**

The day of the chuunin examination finals dawned bright and clear, with not a cloud to be seen. Majority of the chuunins in Konoha have long been on patrol in the village, as the turnout of visitors for the chuunin finals is larger than anticipated.

And with the number of Konoha clan heirs participating in the finals, along with the very first participation of the public chuunin exams by Tsuki, this is of no surprise. And considering the fact that the Hokage's daughter and the heiress to the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans is also participating, this had caused even more excitement.

However, only the ninjas directly under the command of the Hokage, the top jounins of the village as well as the ANBU knew that the sudden…tight security of the village isn't entirely because of the sudden turnout of visitors. No. It has more to do with a vital piece of information that Gekkou Hayate had given to the Hokage nearly a month ago.

Information pertaining to a certain invasion planned on the village, and when it would actually commence. Tsuki didn't actually tell the Hokage what they knew when the two Tsuki jounins have saved Hayate from certain death.

But a message scroll had mysteriously found it's way to the Hokage's desk two nights after Hayate's report, with all kinds of complex seals written on it that only enables the Hokage to be able to open it. The message scroll actually contains information on what Tsuki knew about the invasion as well, which isn't a lot that Konoha doesn't already know. There is only one vital piece of information that Tsuki knew that Konoha doesn't – that the invasion will be an internal attack, and that Oto and Suna will be the enemy.

Minato had made a mental note to up the security of his office when he had found the scroll on his desk, though he was interested in the seals that had practically covered every inch of the scroll. Internally though, he knew that the Tsuki jounins doesn't want to see him. It is common knowledge in the elemental nations that Tsuki isn't fond of Konoha, though no one knew the exact reason why.

Minato had hoped to clear up whatever misunderstanding there are between both their villages with the chuunin exams, and to hopefully get an alliance.

**XXXXXX**

In the hotel where the Tsuki ninjas are, the two jounins were double checking all their equipment whilst the genins were looking over their equipment once more. Seina had taken them back to the hotel where they have stayed in two days before the finals, just so that the genins would be able to have a good rest, and be in top form for the finals.

"Ready for today?" Zabuza asked Seina quietly, polishing his sword.

Seina nodded before glancing at the watch on her wrist and standing up. "All right. It's time. Let's go."

The three genins looked up and nodded. Seina then opened the door to their hotel room only to see someone wearing a black cloak that covered themselves from head to toe standing at the door. Behind her, Zabuza tensed, and the three genins readied their weapons.

"Stop." Seina placed out a hand to stop their movements, her eyes not leaving the cloaked form of the person standing in front of her. There were several moments before she spoke again. "Zabuza, take the kids and head to the arena without me."

"Huh?" Zabuza stared at Seina like she had grown an extra head.

"Seina-san!" Kyo protested.

"Just go!" Seina commanded. "You'll be late for the finals if you delay any longer. I'll be fine. I'll catch up with you. Go."

Zabuza nodded hesitantly. "All right," he said, his tone suggesting that he didn't like it. He stepped out of the doorway and headed down the hotel hallway with the three genins close on his heels, none of them taking their eyes off of the cloaked figure.

Seina waited for several moments for their footsteps to fade completely before sighing and opening the room door wider, inviting her 'visitor' in. The cloaked figure stepped in silently, and Seina closed the door behind her, leaning against it, keeping the door closed with her weight.

Both said nothing for several moments before Seina sighed. "So… What brings you here all of a sudden, Sayo?"

There were several moments of silence before the cloaked figure pulled down the hood covering the face, revealing the visage of one Uchiha Sayo, her dark blue eyes cold and calculating, and she nodded to Seina.

Seina sighed. "So…" she drawled. "You disappeared for nearly two months, only with the occasional phone call and message. And then you appeared again without a word. This is so like you, Sayo." She sighed. "Does Madara know that you're here?"

"He does." Sayo nodded. "I sent him a message before he set off for Konoha as the Tsukikage."

Seina sighed. "So? What have you found out?" she asked.

"Nothing that we don't already know." Sayo answered with a sigh. "But then again, this _is _Raven's Gate that we're talking about, so it's only natural. I wasn't actually expecting to find out anything new anyway."

Seina sighed. "Anything that you _did _manage to find out?" she asked with exasperation.

"Just the details of the invasion." Sayo answered, and Seina paid rapt attention. "Turns out that they'll be attacking from both outside and inside the village. Several enemies will be disguised as visitors in the arena, whilst major summoning seals will be painted all over outside the village. Even Konoha will have trouble against something like this. Raven's Gate will be making their debut here. For the first time in about eighty years." She sighed.

Seina frowned. "I take that to mean that Kakuzu will be making an appearance?" she enquired.

Sayo nodded. "But still, he is only the small fry. We don't know who the big boss is, as there must be someone pulling the strings from behind for all these years with Hiore currently being…indisposed." She coughed. "And to make matters worse, I found out that they've added a new member to their ranks – one of the Inner Circle."

Seina stared blankly. "Pardon?"

"Well, they're to Raven's Gate what the MOON are to us, or even the Akatsuki. Basically, the elites of that organisation." Sayo explained. "From what I heard, there are five members, maybe even more. And all of them have special abilities and characteristics that sets them apart from all the others." She looked straight into Seina's eyes. "Basically, they can't die by normal means."

Seina looked horrified. "Immortality," she nearly whispered in horror.

Sayo nodded. "Did Madara tell you and Obito how we'd first met Kakuzu all those years ago back in Shometsu Village?" she enquired, and Seina nodded. "Good. That makes things easy then. I'd found out a few things about this Inner Circle. In order to become a member, you just need two things." She placed up two fingers. "One, you _must _be an Immortal, or at least, someone who can't die easily, and had lived through the ages. Two, you must be able to take apart an entire army with just your bare hands alone. And so far, there are only three known members. One, we already know of; Kakuzu of the Five Hearts. The second is Hidan of the Jashin. The third is Sasori of the Red Sands."

Seina paled. "Gods… I've heard of them before. They are no pushovers. All of them are at high S-class status. And if there are more like them in Raven's Gate…" She trailed off. "The elemental nations are doomed."

Sayo sighed. "If there are more like them in Raven's Gate, then the elemental nations and this world isn't going to remain standing for very long. It'll make what had happened during the time of the shinobi clan wars look like two toddlers having a brawl," she stated. She then frowned. "I'll take care of the outside forces during the invasion. I'll leave the arena to you. The others knew the plan." She informed Seina.

Seina nodded. "You swore that you would never return to Konoha again," she said. "What makes you change your mind?"

Sayo was silent for several moments. "I was…angry at first."

"At Senju Hashirama?" Seina guessed.

Sayo nodded. "But later, it is because I don't want to see Konoha," she admitted. "I don't want to see just how the village that I'd helped created had turned out to be like…for the past fifty years."

Seina was confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Sayo said nothing as she walked towards the window and opened it, inviting the sunlight in. Seina stepped next to her, surveying the busy village. "Tell me, Seina. When you look at the village, what do you see?"

"When I first stepped into Konoha, it makes me feel like they're…too naïve." Seina said carefully. "They have a one track mind. They only see what they want to see. They don't look at both sides of the big picture."

"This village looks warm and welcoming, but that couldn't be any further from the truth." Sayo muttered. "All of them. Every single one of them has double faces to them. When we'd first created the village, we wanted this village to be like it's name, Konoha (Tree of Leaves). Like the leaves of a tree, always helping each other, and treating each other like family. Despite his shortcomings, Hashirama has a good head on his shoulders, and a sound tactical mind. But over the years, this village has turned corrupted. I…didn't want to return to this village and see this."

Seina was silent. "Is…this why you helped save Obito, Itachi, Orochimaru, and even agreed to Yahiko's request to help Konoha?" she asked carefully. "I am a mother once, Sayo. If Haru had become…evil, no matter what, so long as he needs help, I will always help him, no matter what. You created Konoha. This village is like your own child. Just like how Tsuki is to you and Madara."

Sayo sighed. "I wonder," she said mysteriously. "But even so, I know that I can't keep running away from reality. And it will only be a matter of time before the world and this village knows that you, me and Madara… That all of us are still alive. And now, that time is coming." She closed her eyes briefly. "This world is changing. Pretty soon, it won't need us or ninjas anymore, and we'll all just be relics of the past."

**XXXXXX**

In the seats of the arena where Zabuza is seated among the other foreign delegates, he clapped politely as Shiranui Genma announced that the winner of the first match is Namikaze Takara.

The loud cheers and applause nearly took the roof of the arena off, mainly from the Konoha side, happy that one from their own side had taken the first win.

The Hokage's daughter's opponent had been the daughter of the Kazekage himself. It is a match between two kunoichis who are both of royal lineages in their individual villages, with the blood of a kage running through their veins. The match had been a close one, as both girls are wind users, and thus, are evenly matched. Takara had only managed to beat her opponent by using some fairly complex seals that her mother had taught her.

The Konoha genins in the stands congratulated Takara on her win as she returned to the balcony where all the genins stood waiting. Sasuke gave a grunt that probably translated as 'good job' in his language. Aburame Shino gave a small miniscule nod to the redhead whilst Hyuuga Kisuke smirked at her.

Genma was announcing that the two participators of the next match would be Sasaki Rihan of Tsuki versus Kinuta Dosu of Oto when Seina appeared, taking her seat next to Zabuza.

"What happened? Who was that?" Zabuza hissed even as Rihan shunshined into the arena itself whilst Dosu took the long way down by walking down.

"I'll explain later." Seina hissed, glancing around warily.

With the Konoha genins that didn't make it to the finals, Hyuuga Hinata watched worriedly from her place in between her little sister and teammate. Rihan's words from that night both worried her and touched her. Never before had anyone said that they'd be fighting for her. As a result, Hinata got lots of teasing from her little sister about it.

'_Rihan-kun…' _Hinata thought, clasping both hands together. _'Be careful…'_

In the contestants' balcony, Kyo gave a small whistle as he eyed Rihan's stony face, and the glint in his eyes. "Oh boy, Rihan's pissed. _Real_ pissed," he grinned. Haku is the only genin standing next to him, since all the chuunin participants have seen just how he had utterly _destroyed_ his opponent during the prelims, and were keeping well away from him. "He's going to destroy that guy."

Haku sighed, but agreed with Kyo. She hasn't seen Rihan this angry for a long time now. Usually, Rihan had a very level head, as he is a swordsman after all. In the art of the sword, it talks about emotions and feelings. If a swordsman loses their cool, they will lose the battle. She hasn't seen Rihan this angry ever since the time with Kyo. And she has a feeling that it has to do with a certain Hyuuga…

Down in the arena, Shiranui Genma who was looking from Rihan to Dosu and back again suddenly decided that it would be in his best self interests to get the hell out of their way once they start fighting.

"Second match, Sasaki Rihan of Tsuki versus Kinuta Dosu of Oto. Start!" He let his hand fall and leapt out of the way.

For several moments, neither one of the two said anything. Rihan was the first to break the silence. "I got a question for you," he said, his voice cold and impassive. Hinata who heard it shivered, as it is so unlike the warm and kind voice of the boy who had saved her during the prelims, and had later visited her in the hospital once before he had to leave for his training session, and then later when he had gotten back to the village. "Back then, why did you do that to your opponent? You didn't have to do that in order to win. If I hadn't interfered, you would have killed her."

Dosu snorted. "That's what you're worried about?" he sneered. "I'm a ninja. And so are you. And you should know that killing is our job. We are weapons for war. I'm just doing what is required of a ninja. And back then, you just had to interrupt me…just when I was getting to the very best part!"

Rihan's eyes narrowed even further in silent rage. "Very well. Looks like I have no other choice. I really don't want to do this here, as I don't want to let her see me kill someone, but this is for her sake as well." And he reached with his left hand towards one of the two swords on his back, reaching for the nodachi.

Both Kyo and Haku froze. "Hey! Rihan isn't serious, is he?" Kyo hissed, turning towards Haku, worry in his eyes. "He is _seriously _going to draw White Dragon?"

Down on the arena, Rihan unsheathed his sword quickly, with the sunlight bouncing off the steel of his sword. Haku was silent for several moments, watching Rihan. "He's entirely serious, Kyo." Haku remarked. "This isn't going to be just a fight for the chuunin finals to him. He is fighting for someone's honour in this match. One of them won't be leaving the arena alive. I hadn't seen Rihan this angry for a long time now."

Takara and all the other genins who were listening froze at the cold tone. The Hokage's daughter then recalled what Kyo and Haku have both said during Rihan's match against Tenten during the prelims.

_In the Sasaki clan, the code of the samurai is law for them, since they were originally a clan of samurais after all, before the clan decided to adapt to the way of the ninja back during the First Great Shinobi War. And like every ninja clan out there, the Sasaki clan have their own set of rules to follow: clan ethics and clan laws. And unlike other clans, they are quite strict on it. Those rules **must** be followed, no matter what. If a Sasaki is ever forced to unsheathe their own sword, forced to remove their sword from the sheathe, a life must be taken. Blood must be spilt._

"No matter how fast or how good you are with the sword, you can't beat the speed of sound!" Dosu shouted as he aimed his sound waves at Rihan. Much to his surprise, Rihan merely struck the ground with his sword, creating a small tremor that cancelled out his sound waves.

"Do you take me for a fool?" Rihan hissed. "When one had seen just how you had fought back then, they would be able to figure out a way to counter your attack easily. You're nothing but a coward, only hitting out at those weaker or smaller than you. Drawing out this match any further is pointless, and breathing the same air that you breathe in is an insult to my clan and me as well. I'm ending this."

Rihan took one step forwards, and the next moment, he then appeared behind Dosu, with his sword out to one side, both genins with their backs facing each other. Rihan sheathed his sword slowly before turning his head around to face Dosu. "If your opponent hadn't been me, you might still stand a chance. I wasn't planning on involving myself in this. But you just had to drag a woman into it. She might have been a ninja, but I stick to what I feel. Women don't belong in the battlefield. That should be the job of us men. We protect the women and children. Not the other way around. I'll see you in the afterlife."

There was a loud click as Rihan sheathed his sword completely, and at the same moment, blood spurted out from Dosu as he fell to the ground, unmoving, his eyes wide and blank. Rihan turned around and started moving up to the balcony.

Genma couldn't find his voice for several moments before he managed to croak out, "W-Winner, Sasaki Rihan."

Several moments of silence fell in the arena before the stands erupted with applause. Rihan looked on with surprise before he smiled a small smile, sending several Konoha girls into la-la-land.

With Hinata, she squeezed her hands into fists, staring at Rihan with an unknown emotion welling up in her chest, before she stood up and walked away.

"Onee-chan?" Hanabi called out after her sister, but Hinata had long disappeared.

* * *

"Quite a talented genin that you've got there, Tsukikage-sama." Minato commented up in the kages' balcony, with his wife and Jiraiya as his guards.

The Tsukikage and Kazekage were the only two kages that were present aside from Minato, as genins from their village have made it to the finals.

Much like the Kazekage, the Tsukikage had covered his face, but unlike the Kazekage, the Tsukikage wore a black mantle-like cloak in place of his usual Tsukikage coat, with it having a hood that covered his face from view. The words for 'Tsukikage' was written in white on the back, with the village symbol visible on it. Like the Hokage, both the Tsukikage and Kazekage have two guards with them as well, though one of the Tsukikage's guards had his lower face covered by a black cloth mask.

"Well, Rihan had always been a bit of a gentleman." The Tsukikage remarked. "He had always been one to protect the women. He can fight women if he has to, but not once did he ever kill a female opponent. It is both a weakness and a strength at the same time."

Minato was amused. "And here I thought that chivalry is dead," he commented. "And he seems to have taken quite a liking to the Hyuuga heiress. Maybe a marriage betrothal might be beneficial for both parties. What do you think, Tsukikage-sama?" Minato joked.

Madara smirked beneath his cloak. "Well, if both parties don't object, why not?" he said, taking pleasure in the Hokage's shocked look. "Though I had a feeling that the Hyuuga clan won't be too happy at having their heiress marry the heir of a prominent clan from another village."

"Right, well…" The Hokage coughed, and was pleased when an interruption arrived in the form of a brunette Tsuki jounin – one of the members of the Tsukikage's guard detail.

"My apologies." The jounin apologised, before he then stepped close to the Tsukikage, bending down to whisper into his ear. "Madara-sama, Sayo-sama had sent word. She's in the village. She is now taking care of the summoning seals around the village with Orochimaru-san, but there are too many for her to handle. She said that she'd destroy as many of them as she possibly could, but that we would have a few summoned creatures to handle as well."

Madara nodded. "Very well," he said solemnly.

The jounin bowed to his kage before disappearing in a quick shunshin. Minato looked concerned. "Is there something wrong, Tsukikage-sama?" he asked.

"No. Nothing's the matter." Madara answered. "Nothing at all."

* * *

_A/N: So I hope that this chapter isn't too rushed for your tastes. Many of my readers had been complaining of Sayo's sudden disappearance for at least three chapters, and I hope that this clears up some of the mystery about her disappearance. More of it will be explained later on, I promise._

_Anyway, I've mentioned before about a story blog that I set up some time ago. Well, I've decided to shift it to a domain site, as the blog doesn't give me as many features as I would like. You can find the link on my profile or go to http: / / falling - leaves - stories . com_

_Just remove the spaces in between the words. I'll appreciate if you can go and take a look and maybe leave behind a comment or two on that site, as I hadn't had much feedback for my original stories on there._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_


	31. The True Power of the Tatsuyama Clan

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty One: The True Power of the Tatsuyama Clan**

"Well, that was anti climatic." Rihan grunted as Genma announced the winner of the third match between Aburame Shino and Sabaku no Kankuro, with the victor being Shino.

They've already known that Shino is an insect user from the preliminaries, and that Kankuro is a puppet user. The fact that these two are pitted against each other had caused several others to look at this match with interest. Apparently, it seems that Shino is also a tactical type of fighter – he uses his brains more than actual ninja techniques in a fight. He had actually managed to outwit Kankuro and maneuver him into a spot where he wants the puppet user to be before revealing that he had actually stuffed the joints of his puppets with his bugs, and had already planted several bugs on his person, thus sapping away his chakra even without Kankuro noticing.

"Yeah, but interesting though," said Kyo with interest. "He seems to be a tactical type of fighter. If this had been a real battle, Shino can easily kill his opponent."

Haku nodded. "But the only thing that bothers me is that I've only seen them both use only _one technique _during the entire match," she said. "Don't ninja villages these days believe in variety any longer?" She wondered. "If their technique has no use against an opponent, then they'll be dead."

"If this is Tsuki, don't even talk about chuunin, you won't even make it to genin rank." Rihan snorted. "Tsukikage-sama would never approve it."

The listening genins from the other villages frowned at this, particularly Takara.

It is true that Konoha had always placed emphasis on specializations, but sometimes, over specializations can prove to be lethal. And so far, Tsuki had shown that their ninjas are pretty versatile – having a pretty wide range of skills in their arsenal, and they wouldn't be helpless if they ever came across a ninja that is proficient in something that they're weak in, say taijutsu for example.

"Well, the fun starts now," said Haku with a grin, exchanging looks with Rihan over Kyo's head, and the swordsman smiled back at her. The ice maiden then turned towards Kyo. "You're up next." She then turned serious. "You heard what Seina-san had said. Don't go overboard."

All three genins have already been briefed about the invasion beforehand by the jounins, and knew what to expect, also being filled in about the plan that Sayo had made regarding the invasion.

Kyo grumbled. "I know," he said.

Rihan sighed, facing his best friend. "Kyo, I'm serious. Don't lose it, no matter how…_annoying _your opponent might be," he said, his eye twitching. "Don't go overboard. And keep it within limits."

Kyo looked annoyed. "What are you, my mother?" he asked sarcastically, and Haku giggled behind her hand. Rihan only looked amused. A banter like that is pretty common among the three friends.

Genma called out the names of the next ones to fight just then. "Can Tatsuyama Kyo of Tsukigakure and Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke of Konoha please come down here now?"

Kyo grumbled. "I'm going," he muttered, moving towards the stairway that would take him down to the arena. He didn't miss how the other genin participants moved away to give him room, all bar the creepy redhead from Suna who seems to be psychotic, always muttering something like 'Mother wants your blood'.

The blonde moved through the tunnel, spotting the light at the end of it. He then raised an eyebrow as he spotted two ninja guards waiting for him in the tunnel. And by their hitai-ates, they're from Kusa.

"Hey kid, our boss wants you to lose the match on purpose." One of them stated. Without even waiting for Kyo to reply, he continued. "You see, chuunin matches like this had plenty of bets riding on it. And our boss had good money on the Uchiha kid. So could you lose your match?"

Kyo's eye twitched. "Get lost," he hissed.

The other ninja raised a kunai. "What do you know? We got another stubborn fool here," he sneered.

"I'm giving you three seconds to leave before I get angry." Kyo warned. Who the hell do they think they are, asking him to lose on purpose? Tsuki bows to no one!

"_We're_ giving you three seconds to live."

Kyo shrugged. "Fine. Your loss then," he said.

An explosion of dark chakra erupted from within the tunnel, turning everything that it touches into dust. But Kyo was careful to control it so that it only reaches the two Kusa idiots. He then calmly walked through the explosion of dark chakra and emerged onto the arena ground, leaving two piles of dust behind him, with a pile of clothes within it.

He had a match to fight.

**XXXXXX**

"The Tatsuyama heir, huh?" Hatake nee Hanesawa (formerly Haruno) Sakura muttered with concern, suddenly worried about Sasuke's chances of _survival. _"What do you think?" She asked her husband who is sitting beside her.

The Konoha jounins were all gathered in the stadium to watch the chuunin finals, and Sakura was currently sitting with Sakumo, with the other Konoha senior jounins like the senior Ino-Shika-Cho trio and their wives, along with Shikamaru and Neji. Kakashi was currently with his own peers in another side of the stadium, all of them seated with the Konoha genins that didn't make it to the finals.

Sakumo sighed. "I have completely no idea," he admitted. "A Tatsuyama is someone whom no one would wish to fight. _Ever. _Sasuke might have a chance only if the Kyo kid doesn't use his abilities over life and death. And even so, I doubt that his chances at victory are high." He warned. "The Tsuki genins are way above the levels of our own genins. They could actually be high chuunin by now."

Sakura was silent for a long time. "I'm worried about him, Sakumo," she admitted at last. "He's been…so different ever since the second round of the chuunin examinations."

Shikamaru and Neji who were seated behind Sakura and Sakumo exchanged looks, even with the blindfold around Neji's eyes.

And so he had been. Sasuke had been so aloof and arrogant and even…cold ever since the second round of the chuunin examinations that it reminded the pink haired woman of the boy whom she had a crush on the first time around, and what he had been, and had even done later on.

He had almost killed the entire retrieval team sent to retrieve him the first time around, and had almost killed his own teammate with his sensei's prized signature move. Three years later, he then tried to kill Sayo _again. _Then when they came across him once more months later, he tried killing her again, and was only thwarted by the interferences of Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba who have been on the same mission team with Sayo then.

Only this time, Sayo had quite enough of Sasuke wanting to kill her, and decided that since he wanted it so badly, fine, but _she'll_ kill him first before _he_ can kill her. Sakura and Sayo had quite the argument when the Oinin commander had approached the redhead, inviting her to join the ANBU forces or even the Oinin forces to assist them with the execution of one Uchiha Sasuke.

Worst fight that Sakura ever had with Sayo. Not long after that was the mission to Ame, and then, Sayo had just vanished.

Sakumo sighed. "I know. Kakashi told me about it," he said. "We're taking him straight to Inoichi for a mental evaluation after the exams. I was hesitant to allow him to continue the Academy after we had taken him in with the massacre of his family. But he wanted to, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing then." He muttered darkly.

"Because he wants revenge?" Sakura asked quietly, and her husband nodded grimly.

"You and I both have been ninjas for long enough," he said grimly. "We both know the consequences and the risks that come with it. We become ninjas, knowing that we must face death in this line, and that we can _never _seek our own vengeance, because this is our job. If the enemy doesn't kill, _they'll_ be the ones dead. Similar to how we must understand that, even the enemy understands this. As ninjas, we must never seek power for revenge. This is the one rule that we have as ninjas. But Sasuke doesn't understand this. I thought that if I let him go to the Academy and give him time, he might forget about it, especially after he had befriended Aoi and Takara. But now…" Sakumo trailed off uneasily.

Sakura sighed. "We are taking him to Inoichi after this. And if his mental evaluation isn't good, I'm withdrawing him out of the ninja program. I don't care what he or Kakashi says," she said firmly. She's not having a repeat of the incident with her two former teammates happening again.

Sakumo sighed. "Yeah, I know," he said. He then straightened up. "The match is starting."

**XXXXXX**

Meanwhile, Kyo is very annoyed.

The Tatsuyama heir is normally a very cheerful and upbeat teen when he is _not _using his clan abilities. But now, he is very annoyed. The moment that Genma had announced the start of the match, and the moment that his opponent is standing in the arena across him, what started is a rant that is enough to put anyone to sleep.

His Uchiha opponent went on and on about the superiority of Uchiha blood, why Kyo couldn't beat him, blah blah blah.

Kyo pinched his nose. _'By the heavens! Is he __**really**__ related to Madara-sama and Sayo-sama, and even Seina-san?' _he almost groaned. _'And here I thought that Obito-san and his rants about __**manga **__is bad!'_

A kunai then flew like a bullet through the air, narrowly missing Sasuke's head. As it is, it flew past his cheek and struck the wall behind him, being half imbedded into the wall. A trickle of blood actually flowed from the cut on Sasuke's cheek.

_That_ managed to stop Sasuke ranting, much to Genma's relief.

The proctor then took a look at Kyo and noted that it might be in his best health interests to escape into the stands for his own protection. On the arena, the Uchiha could almost feel sweat appear from sheer fear alone, and he turned to face his annoyed opponent who is obviously not happy.

Kyo had his hand outstretched from when he had thrown his kunai, his left eyebrow twitching dangerously. "The next one won't miss," he warned Sasuke. The mentioned Uchiha gulped, and Kyo sighed. "Now I understand why Rihan wants to use his sword and cut you up." He muttered beneath his breath.

"You can't beat me." Sasuke said bravely, trying to put a show on despite the overwhelming fear he had felt when he looked into Kyo's red-orange eyes.

Kyo's eyebrow twitched. "Were you sleeping during the preliminaries?" he asked sarcastically. "Oh right. I almost forgot that you were in the infirmary when it came time for me to fight." The ninjas that _were_ there when Kyo had his fight paled drastically when they remembered just how he had decimated his opponent. Kyo narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. "A word of warning. Unlike Rihan and Haku, I'm not so nice to my opponents. I rarely leave them in one piece, let alone alive." He warned. "If you think that you can beat me, then by all means _try. _I hadn't been this pissed for a long time now." He growled darkly.

* * *

Up on the participants' balcony, both Rihan and Haku exchanged nervous looks.

Uh oh. This is _not _good.

Kyo might look like that, and look like he wouldn't hurt a fly and wouldn't even take a life if he can help it, but it is _far _from the truth. In the end, he is still born in a clan that rarely leaves their opponents alive when engaged in a battle after all. And like Rihan, he had his own clan ethics to follow, though Tatsuyama clan ethics are much more…brutal. While Kyo is considered more…_merciful _as compared to his clan members, it wasn't by much, and he had a tendency to…_destroy _his opponents in a real battle.

Rihan and Haku both still remembered the last A-rank mission that Zabuza-sensei had taken by mistake, assuming it to be a high C-rank mission. A simple mission that is supposed to be a request to take out a group of bandits hiding out within the mountains in Tea Country turns out to be a mission that requires them to deal with a group of B to A-class nuke-nins instead.

Kyo had totally _pulverized _his opponents then. There was barely anything large enough of them to find, let alone identify. The only way for Zabuza to even identify the enemies was by their bloodied hitai-ates alone, which thankfully, Kyo hadn't turned to dust.

"Well, let's just hope that Kyo doesn't get annoyed enough and kill him," said Haku with a gulp, and Rihan nodded. The swordsman turned his eyes up towards the ceiling and muttered what seemed to be a short prayer beneath his breath. Haku looked at him oddly. "What are you doing, Rihan?"

"Saying a prayer for his soul," said Rihan seriously. "I never thought that I'll ever say this, but I'm praying for that guy's life right now. It'll be a miracle if he can walk away from this match with all four limbs attached, with the way that he is letting his mouth run away with him." His eye twitched. "Kyo is going to murder him."

**XXXXXX**

"_Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!"_

A huge jet of flame flew towards a very bored Kyo's initial direction, bursting forth from Sasuke's lips. Kyo only raised a brow as he watched the jets of flame shooting towards his direction and sighed to himself, a look of disappointment on his face. The blonde then grabbed one of the bamboo tubes hanging from his belt, opening it.

* * *

Up on the kages' balcony, Madara smiled to himself.

It's been awhile since he had seen Kyo use _that _aspect of his abilities. He had seen Sayo use this enough times during the shinobi clan wars, and as far as he knows, Kyo is the only one whom Sayo had taught this technique to.

Like all Tsuki ninjas, the Tatsuyama clan members were also made to go through the ninja program that all Tsuki ninjas went through, but in actual fact, they don't really need it. Few ninjas can even touch them. Their ability to control life and death isn't the only thing that they're capable of. It's just that there are few ninjas in recent years who can force them to use their other abilities.

"This is going to be good." Madara commented, much to Minato's confusion.

* * *

On the participants' balcony, Haku groaned, much to the confusion of the other genins, and Rihan looked as if he wanted to bash his head against the railings of the balcony that they were currently standing at.

"Oh dear. Kyo is going to do something worse than killing him if he's bringing _that _out." Haku groaned.

Takara frowned. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Rihan shook his head as he turned over his shoulder to look at the other genins who were standing _far away _from them. "You'll see later," he answered.

* * *

Kyo stared with disinterest as the flames approached him and flung the contents of the bamboo tube that he is holding at it that turns out to be water. From the participants' balcony, Takara frowned as she narrowed her eyes. That water seems to be no ordinary water…

The flames were instantly dispersed and faded away like nothing as the water touched it, sizzling as it does, much to Sasuke's shock. The Uchiha didn't even realise that the water that Kyo had thrown to disperse the flames didn't just stay on the ground, but had dispersed _below _it.

Sasuke gulped as Kyo stared at him with his disinterested red-orange eyes. "I hope that you don't think that something as low level as that is enough to beat me," he said with boredom. "Is that all that you're capable of?" His voice was dangerous, with a hint of warning to it.

* * *

Asuma whistled with appreciation, seeing a C-rank fire jutsu being dispersed like nothing by the Tsuki genin. Even most jounins have to use a water technique of B-rank level at least in order to be able to disperse a fire jutsu.

"Damn, that kid's good." Kurenai said. She then frowned. "I hope that Sasuke doesn't rile him up more than he already did. Otherwise, he won't be walking away alive." She glanced at Kakashi who doesn't seem worried in the least. "Not worried?"

"Not really," said Kakashi with a shrug. "I had helped Sasuke prepare as much as he did during that one month when I heard that he is up against a Tatsuyama."

Kurenai frowned. She had heard about it from the Hokage's wife when Kushina had called in a favour to help Takara with genjutsu training – with genjutsu being her weakest point. Kushina is no expert in genjutsu. Sure, she knew enough to learn how to dispel it, but she is no genjutsu mistress. And Namikaze Kushina is in no way impressed with Kakashi when she learned that that the silver haired ninja had dropped two of his three students like a hot stone and disappeared for an entire month without a word to anyone to train the third.

Sure, Kurenai knew that Aoi will be stuck in the hospital for at least a week with his bruised ribs, and _sure,_ she knew that he won't be progressing to the finals, but the least that Kakashi could do is to make sure that his students still continued training during that month, the way that her own students did. Just because it is the chuunin exams doesn't mean that they should slack off on their own training.

And what about Takara?

As the Hokage, Minato couldn't just drop everything and train his daughter, and neither could Kushina, as she is still an active jounin. If Jiraiya, her godfather, hadn't been back in the village for some business, the redhead would probably not have received any training at all, with how busy that all the jounins of Konoha have been, especially with what Hayate had reported a month ago.

When Aoi had been released from the hospital, thankfully, his father had taken it upon himself to train him and Takara together with Jiraiya, so at least, the two did receive some actual training. Aoi's cousin, Shizune, had trained them for some time with target training too, only with senbon instead of kunai.

Kurenai knew, however, that both sets of parents were not impressed in the least with Kakashi, especially Minato. And if the genjutsu mistress knew Kakashi's stepmother like how she did, seeing as how Hatake Sakura had helped her with her training during her genin days, she is sure that Kakashi's parents wouldn't be happy with their son either.

And from what Kurenai had heard from her genins who have all been good friends with Takara and Aoi, and have grown up with them with the genins from Asuma's team, apparently, Kakashi had been showing some favoritism to his adopted brother. If Takara and Aoi haven't been clan heirs and have clans to teach them something, they would probably still remain the same as they were when they have graduated.

Privately, Kurenai hoped that the Tatsuyama kid would beat the shit out of Sasuke and to bring him down a few pegs. The kid is way too arrogant for her liking, and when he had became a genin, that had only become worse.

**XXXXXX**

Sasuke was shocked into silence when the Tatsuyama guy caught his fist effortlessly.

Kyo glared at him. "If you can shoot your mouth off about your clan, your blood, your village, blah blah blah, then at the very least, have the skills to back your words up," he told Sasuke coldly before kicking the Uchiha in the abdomen towards the wall, knocking off several of the wall tiles at the same time.

Kyo's patience is already running thin with just how Sasuke had ranted about his clan and how Uchiha blood is superior, making Tsuki out to be some no-name village that only got this far because of luck. Does this guy ever pay attention in history class? Some 'Rookie of the Year' that he is turning out to be.

"Damn you…" Sasuke growled, standing up on shaky legs, a trail of blood dripping down his face from his forehead.

The cries and wails of the fangirls in the stadium was nearly deafening, and the Konoha genins who didn't make it to the finals and were seated in the stadium were looking on with shock as they watched one of their own get pummeled and knocked around like a ragdoll. Sure, they don't like Sasuke too much, but even the genins admitted that he is considered one of the top tier rookie genins.

To have a Tsuki genin knock him around like this…

Just how powerful is he?

With the jounins, Kakashi groaned, putting his face in his hands. "Damn it, Sasuke, calm down!" he moaned, seeing the obvious signs of the boy starting to lose his cool.

This _always _happens whenever he sees someone stronger than him or knows something that he doesn't which nearly always happens _every _team training. I mean, what would he expect of the daughter of the _Hokage _himself, and the son of the village's _head medic-nin_ and the _head of the jounin forces?_

Kyo looked at Sasuke with cold eyes. "I don't appreciate people insulting my village _or _my clan, and even my friends," he told the boy coldly. "They're worth a hundred of you. And I'm surprised that this village accepts even trash like you into their ninja forces. If it is Tsuki, you would have been punished with a two month jail term for just shooting your mouth off." His eyes were like steel as he spoke. "We don't need ninjas with no manners or discipline. Unlike Konoha, we of Tsuki aren't as soft-hearted."

"Don't you dare look down on me!" Sasuke roared, forming several handseals, and blue lightning started to cackle in his hands, making a noise that sounded like the chirping of a thousand birds. _"Chidori!"_

* * *

Up on the kages' balcony, Minato and Kushina both paled immediately when they recognised that jutsu.

Kushina growled low in her throat. "I'm going to be having words with Kakashi later about what a genin should or should not be taught," she stated. She looked nervously at the Tsukikage. _'Let's hope that this don't blow up into a political issue.'_

* * *

Sakumo growled, and he looked more furious than Sakura or anyone had ever seen him. "What is Kakashi _thinking _when he taught him an _A-rank assassination jutsu?" _he growled almost animastically. "I should put him over my knee and spank him really hard like the time I did when he was three and stole one of my kunais to play with!"

Shikamaru and Neji barely restrained a chuckle at the mental image.

* * *

Seina growled low in her throat beside Zabuza who looked at her warily.

"I'm starting to wonder if Itachi would mind if I killed that brat here and made it look as if Oto were the ones who did it," she muttered.

* * *

On the participants' balcony, Takara paled, recognizing that jutsu immediately for what it was. She immediately ran to the railings where Haku and Rihan were and yelled to Kyo, surprising the two Tsuki genins beside her.

"Tatsuyama, get out of the way! You can't block it!"

"Don't worry," said Rihan calmly. "That jutsu won't work on Kyo."

"What are you talking about? That jutsu—" Takara was cut off by an annoyed Haku.

"That's why we're telling you to calm down. Don't worry." Haku turned back towards the arena. "Kyo's strength doesn't just end there." She had an evil grin on her face. "Rather, you should be more worried about your teammate. If this doesn't make it, then nothing will. He had just pushed Kyo over the edge. He will _pulverize _that Uchiha without a doubt."

* * *

"I can't look!" Hanabi squeaked in fear beside her father, covering her eyes, suddenly wishing that her sister is here.

Where is she anyway?

* * *

Everyone in the stadium stared on with shock, particularly Minato and Kakashi who knew just how lethal that the Chidori could be.

Tatsuyama Kyo had grabbed Uchiha Sasuke's right hand by the wrist, the cackling blue lightning of Chidori just mere inches away from his face, the light of the blue lightning being reflected in his cold red-orange eyes.

"You seriously think that a jutsu like that can hit me?" Kyo snarled. "You're underestimating me way too much, _boy." _He sneered. "That jutsu only works when you head in a straight line, right? I knew it almost as soon as I laid eyes on your form." Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. "You think you can kill me with a jutsu like that? Many people tried, but _none _of them succeeded!"

_Snap!_

There was a loud howl from Sasuke as Kyo snapped his wrist cleanly, a rare look of fury in the Tatsuyama heir's eyes, and the blonde then kicked him straight into the wall across him.

Up on the participants' balcony, Rihan and Haku exchanged nervous looks. If Kyo isn't before, then he definitely is now. He is _furious. _

This isn't the first time when someone had tried to kill him. Many outsiders have tried, and just because he is from the Tatsuyama clan. Others tried just because they're from Tsuki. And with Sasuke's rants about their village earlier, now coupled with this, the Uchiha will be lucky if Kyo doesn't kill him.

Kyo's eyes were cold and one of murder as he glared at the Uchiha before him who is struggling to get to his feet even with his broken wrist. "I wasn't planning on doing this, but you've forced my hand," he said coldly. "Shall I show you? The true power of the Tatsuyama clan." Sasuke paled and tried to back up even further, but his back hit the wall. Kyo glanced at the ground beneath his feet as he took a step forwards. "You Uchihas from Konoha pride yourselves on your fire jutsu. Thus, I think this is fitting for you." He said. His eyes hardened. _"Hashire, Mizuchi! _(Run, Mizuchi)"

* * *

"It's over," said Haku and Rihan as one with a sigh. They both only saw Kyo use this technique one time, and it still scares them. "No one can beat Kyo's spirit summons."

"What is that?" Takara was brave enough to ask.

Haku glanced at her before turning her attention back towards the arena. "The Tatsuyama clan are masters of Death," she said. "They do not fear Death. Death to them, is just the next step to a greater adventure. As such, they are the human versions of the Shinigami. As the clan heir, Kyo held the strongest power that had ever been seen in any Tatsuyama. Thus, our Tsukikage's wife, Sayo-sama taught Kyo this technique of hers in order to help him control his ability." She answered. "That is the ability to control spirit summons. They are there to help him share his burden. The one that Kyo had called out is only one of several that he had."

"And most people never live long enough to see Kyo use past two." Rihan added. He smirked. "Mizuchi, the fearsome water dragon. He who controls water in all three forms. It's over." He declared.

**XXXXXX**

Everyone in the stadium was shocked, especially the Konoha side, when they saw Uchiha Sasuke fall to his knees, with water spilling out of his lips. The water seemed to almost have a life of it's own.

Kyo's eyes were a tad bit amused. "You should have paid attention to the water that I'd used to disperse your fire jutsu earlier," he told Sasuke. "If you even had any brains, you would have realised that something is up. Why did I use the water in one of my bamboo tubes to disperse the fire jutsu instead of using a water jutsu? Or how is it that the water could disperse your fire jutsu so easily?"

"T-That is…" Sasuke choked on the water currently gurgling about in his throat and body, and he placed his unbroken hand to his mouth, looking as if he is about to puke. "Y-Your technique?"

"Correct," said Kyo. "You need to learn your place, and that there are powers in this world that you should never touch." His eyes are cold. "Mizuchi. _Tear. Disperse. Scatter. _Scramble his insides." He ordered.

To the horror of all Konoha citizens, Sasuke collapsed to the ground, coughing and choking on something unseen, his fingers clawing at the arena ground. Genma knew that he should call this match as Kyo's victory, but he couldn't seem to move. He had never seen something like this before.

Is this something that a human can do?

Kyo's eyes were cold. "If I hear another word of insult against my village or my friends again, I'll have Mizuchi turn your insides out next time," he declared coldly, sending shivers down the spines of everyone present. "I heard that that is a pretty ugly way to die." He then took out the empty bamboo tube that he had used earlier. "Mizuchi, I'm done for today." He sighed.

Several jets of water immediately shot up from the ground, shocking several people, as the water headed back into the bamboo tube that Kyo was holding. Sasuke coughed and hacked as the water forced itself out of his body and headed back to the bamboo tube of its master.

Kyo glanced back coldly at Sasuke who was struggling to his feet, placing the bamboo tube back by his belt. "'Man cannot face Death without first finding meaning in life'," he stated mysteriously. "The day when I first became a ninja, this is what my father had told me. We of the Tatsuyama who brings Death _cannot _fear Death." The entire stadium was silenced at this. "We wield a power that humans don't understand – the ability to defy Fate. To live a still life, to avoid power above all others… I don't know if this can be called right or wrong, but all along, I've been living like this: living in the present. We are the world's best assassins, and also their best healers. But I want to live for a reason, and to live for others. This power of mine, I want to use it to help others. For me, this is what it means to live." He glanced at Sasuke. "Ask yourself this. Why do you live? For what reason do you live? If you have no reason at all, then you're better off dead."

Kyo then turned towards the exit, and glanced up at Genma. "Call the match before I remembered that he tried to kill me back there," he growled, and Genma immediately leapt down onto the arena.

"W-Winner, Tatsuyama Kyo!" Genma called out, but even he couldn't hide how shaky his voice had been.

_Everyone _in the stadium was shocked and a little fearful of Kyo and the Tsuki-nins by now, except for the Tsuki ninjas themselves, and perhaps even Ame.

**XXXXXX**

"Fearsome power that he got there." Minato tried to joke, trying to lessen the tense atmosphere. There is even a slight warble in his voice. "I wouldn't want to face him once he is older."

Madara smiled, but raised a brow as a Tsuki-nin approached the kages' balcony, saluting them before bending down to Madara and whispering in his ear. "Sayo-sama said that they're nearly ready. And it looks like the enemy is ready to move at any moment too." He whispered. "It's nearly time."

Madara nodded. "Okay." He then glanced at the skies. _'A fight against Raven's Gate, huh?' _He clenched his hand into a fist. _'Are we ready to take on an insane organization like that? Is the world?'_

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the super late update! I've been having a lot more inspiration for one of my newer stories lately, so I've been neglecting this for a while. To answer some questions, I've actually planned this story out ages ago, so no, I'm not going to take anything manga related and add it to this story like Nagato and Kushina being family, and even the new Kyuubi form. Anyway, I hadn't been catching up with the manga and the anime ever since the fight that Kirabi and Naruto have with the Raikage and Tsunade. And also, someone had asked me if 'Tobi' is going to appear. My answer is no. Madara and Sayo won't need the secrecy soon enough, so there is also no need for Tobi._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter (despite the short length!), and please read and review!_


	32. Sensei and Student

I am aware that _Second Chances _had been long overdue for an update, but sorry about that! I am really tied up with schoolwork of late, and not to mention that flamers seem to be getting more fanatical of late. You should see some of the comments that they've dropped off on some of my other stories, and I quite lose my motivation to continue writing whenever I see comments like those.

Also, to answer a few questions, I've completely stopped watching or even reading _Naruto_ after the time when Naruto and Killer Bee are facing Tsunade and the Raikage. So any new developments in canon will not be appearing here, as I've already planned this story out from the time when I'd first started writing it, and I don't plan to change my plans about this story anytime now.

**Edit: Noticed my mistake regarding Kakuzu and Hidan. Sorry about this. My eye is injured, and I couldn't really see what I'm typing too well, though that is no excuse for myself!**

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Two: Sensei and Student**

Uchiha (currently Tsukishiro) Seina glanced around her cautiously before pulling out a communicator device from her pocket and slipped it into her ear, pressing two fingers against it.

There is currently an intermission before the second to last match could begin, as the arena is currently getting cleaned up because of all the damages that it had incurred during the few matches that had already taken place, and Seina had taken the chance to slip away to get an update on the recent status from Sayo.

There was a low cackling in Seina's ear before communications were connected, and Seina sighed in relief. "Sayo, are you done?" she hissed in a low tone. "It's almost the Sand kid's match. It's almost time!"

There was an exasperated sigh from Sayo on the other end. _"I need another thirty minutes at least,"_ she answered. _"There are more summon creatures and…monsters or whatever they are than we'd originally anticipated, and I need to make more containment seals. It's taking us longer than I thought!"_

Seina frowned.

While Tsukigakure is the leading village when it comes to seal studies and medic ninjutsu, there are few in their village who is at the fore of seal studies to be classified as a master. Sealing is a delicate art after all. It is a requirement for every ninja in Tsuki to learn some form of seals. But most of them never took it beyond that. It is only a few who had passion and interest in that art who actually underwent the route for seal mastery. And right now, there is only one seals master in Tsuki – Uchiha Sayo.

"How much longer will it take?" Seina finally asked with a sigh, glancing at her watch.

"_I don't know. Half an hour perhaps? Maybe a little more. Containment seals are not easy to make, Seina, and you know it! Especially for those that are required to cover a large area!"_

Seina frowned. As she is the head medic of Tsuki, she knows all the ins and outs about containment seals, seeing as how medics use those seals more often than any other seal. Even for the regular containment seals used by medics, it usually took at least ten or so minutes to set it up.

"…We'll try to buy you as much time as we can. If worse comes to worse, I'll have the genins be stationed at the arena whilst either I or Zabuza head over to help you." Seina told Sayo. She frowned as she turned her head back towards the direction of the arena as her sharp hearing caught the sound of some commotion. "Hey, I'd better go. Seems like the match's starting."

"_Okay."_

Seina turned the communicator off and slipped it back into her pocket, making her way back towards the arena. She stood at the top of the steps for several minutes, watching as Haku went toe-to-toe with that Suna genin. Apparently, at some point during Seina's absence, the match had already begun.

Seina watched with a critical eye as Haku avoided the sand attack deftly by back flipping and performing a seal-less ice jutsu that froze the sand attack before it could hit her. All around the arena, there were several icicles, and even the temperature of the surroundings had dropped several degrees.

Seina then blinked as something white floated past her vision, and she looked upwards immediately only to see feathers dropping around her, and she immediately felt drowsy. Knowing this to be a genjutsu induced sleep, Seina immediately formed a number of hand seals with one hand, thus dispelling the genjutsu on herself.

The civilians and several of the lower ranked ninjas in the stands were dropping to sleep in their seats, and Seina immediately raced down the stairs to join Zabuza.

Over with the Konoha senior jounins, all of them were looking around curiously when they saw the feathers falling around them. "It's started!" Sakura stated, standing up from her seat, immediately forming a number of hand seals. "Kai!"

"Damn, they must really be nuts to attack a stadium full of foreign delegates like this!" Nara Shikaku grumbled even as he followed Sakura's example to dispel the genjutsu.

"Either that, or it's their plan from the very beginning." Sakumo answered, one hand on the hilt of his tanto, looking around cautiously. "After all, what better way to create a ruckus than attacking during the chuunin exams when lots of foreign delegates and even the daimyo himself are present?"

"All right. Orders, sir?" Yamanaka Inoichi turned towards the ANBU commander, Hatake Sakumo himself.

Sakumo sighed. "Like what was explained to us at the strategy meeting," he said briskly. "Spread out. Evacuate the civilians and the children to the underground shelters first of all. Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru and I will remain here to guard the rest of the civilians. The rest of you, spread out!"

There were signs of shunshin at that, and Sakura turned to look at Sakumo. "Well, we knew this is coming," she told him, and Sakumo nodded.

A loud explosion rocked the stadium before anyone could say anything else, and the Konoha jounins turned only to see a smoke bomb being released at the kages' balcony. There were three blurs emerging from the kages' balcony to the rooftop when the smoke had dissipated somewhat.

Sakumo narrowed his eyes. "Let's go."

* * *

"What is going on here?" Namikaze Takara demanded, leaning over the balcony to look at the commotion currently happening below her.

There was a loud scream from behind her, and Takara turned sharply only to see Sasaki Rihan with a kunai in hand parrying it against the iron fan of that Suna kunoichi who seemed to have problems fending off the stronger Tsuki genin.

"Is the organiser of this party the Oto community?" Rihan demanded. "And are Suna in on this too?" Kyo stood next to his best friend, his mere presence alone rather intimidating.

"What do you mean by that?" Shino asked.

"What he means is that Oto and Suna have both turned against Konoha, and the result is an invasion from the inside!" Kyo answered for Rihan, and the faces of both Suna-nins paled immediately.

Temari immediately raised her iron fan and smacked it down on Rihan's hand who dropped the kunai that he is holding. Before anyone could say anything, the blonde immediately unleashed a powerful wind that caused everyone to cover their faces. When the wind died down, the two Suna-nins are gone.

Rihan growled and immediately raced towards the edge of the balcony. "Haku!" he shouted to the ice user who is standing in the arena, checking her packs and weapons. Haku looked up at Rihan and nodded. Rihan turned towards Kyo. "Come on, we're going!"

Kyo nodded. "All right."

Without another word, the two Tsuki genins then leapt off from the balcony, landing onto the ground of the arena. "Well, we got Oto-nins to find and kill." Haku sighed, cracking the bones in her neck. She then looked at Kyo. "Kyo?"

"I'm on it. Don't rush me." Kyo stated, annoyed, even as he studied the ground fervently before he took off without a word, his two teammates following him, eyes glued to the tracks that he could see.

'_Commence mission!'_

**XXXXXX**

Namikaze Minato took a swing at the 'Kazekage' holding him, a kunai in hand before he was released, and the blonde Hokage immediately stood facing the imposter, Kushina next to him, a kunai in one hand. The Tsukikage and his guard were both standing by his side, both having followed the two kages up to the rooftop.

Four Oto-nins have then discarded their Konoha ANBU disguises, standing at each point of the rooftop before forming several complicated looking hand seals, and a purple barrier had then slowly started to form over the rooftop, barricading them and the kages in.

Madara growled. Lowering his ear towards his 'guard's' ear, he whispered. "Help Sayo out in the areas around Konoha. She'll need your help more. And you should take this chance to clear things up with your student." Without a word, he then pushed his 'guard' away from them and off the rooftop as the purple barrier barricaded them in.

The fake Kazekage then threw off his white kage robes, revealing a grotesque looking man who looked as if someone had cut him up and had sewed him back together in Dr. Frankenstein style. He wore a pair of black pants and nothing more, thus leaving him shirtless.

"Who the heck is this guy?" Kushina spluttered, looking at the fake Kazekage oddly. "And are those things…hearts?" Next to her, Minato looked rather green in the face as he eyed the pulsing 'hearts' on the body of the fake Kazekage.

"I got an idea." Madara said calmly.

It might have been more than eighty years since he'd last seen the guy, but he had recognised him immediately. After all, this guy had almost killed Sayo and himself the last time that they've faced each other in Shometsu Village. And by the looks of things, he had undergone more immortality rituals. But more importantly, just how much stronger had he become?

"Looks like you're really alive," said Madara calmly, pulling down the hood of his cloak around his face, with Minato's eyes bulging out at the sight of Madara. Kushina looked as if she'd just suffered a heart attack. Even the ANBU team who had just arrived outside the barrier looked as if they'd just suffered a stroke. "Kakuzu." He hissed the name.

Kakuzu smirked at Madara, displaying rows of sharp teeth. "Eighty years from this day, Uchiha Madara," he hissed. "It's been awhile."

**XXXXXX**

"TAKARA!"

Namikaze Takara was frozen in fear, watching the…monster that just a few moments ago, was a certain Sabaku no Gaara. Her feet seemed almost to be glued to the ground as the monster's arm swung down towards her almost as if in slow motion.

"Takara!" Katou Aoi tried to get up, but with his broken leg caused earlier during the scuffle that he had with Gaara, he stumbled back down onto the tree branch that he is on. Beside him, Sabaku no Temari was eyeing the sand monster with fear. This is one of her worst nightmares, along with nearly everyone in Suna.

Takara clenched her eyes shut before she felt someone grab the back of her shirt, and she then felt more than heard the sound of wind blowing past her, and she was then deposited back onto solid ground.

The red haired Konoha genin then opened her eyes once more only to see a redhead around the age of seventeen or so standing in front of her, dressed in a black shirt and pants, with a black coat that reaches to her thighs over it. She has the standard ninja packs and gear strapped to her thighs, with one additional pouch, and a sword in its holster strapped to the back of her waist with black fingerless gloves, with a Tsuki hitai-ate tied around her neck. And like majority of the Tsuki-nins, she had on black ninja sandals.

"Don't take your eyes off of the enemy." The Tsuki-nin told Takara. "What are they teaching kids in the Academy these days?" She muttered.

Takara had the decency to blush even as Katou Aoi crawled over to her, dragging his broken leg behind him as he did so. "Takara, are you all right?"

Takara stared at her best friend incredulously. _"You're_ the one with the broken leg, and you're asking _me_ that?" she asked, unsure if Aoi had suffered a few knocks to the head or not. "Where's Sasuke?" She asked, looking in several directions at once for her teammate.

When the invasion had begun, apparently, their jounin instructor in his infinite wisdom had sent their third teammate after the Sabaku siblings despite the fact that all jounins in Konoha had been briefed about the danger that is one Sabaku no Gaara.

Exasperated, Sarutobi Asuma had immediately sent Aoi and Takara after their teammate immediately, with Shikamaru and Shino helping them, as all the other genins were held up helping the other jounins with the defence of the stadium. With Shino's help, they were able to trace the path that Sasuke and the Sabaku siblings have taken, with Shino and Shikamaru separating with them along the way because of the invaders.

And when they have reached the place where Sasuke and Gaara have been, the first thing that they saw was Sasuke getting pummelled like a ragdoll by Gaara. His earlier match with Tatsuyama Kyo not helping, the Uchiha had been drained of all chakra, and it only took Aoi shoving him out of the way, having his leg broken in the process, that had taken the Uchiha out of the fight. That had probably been the only thing that had saved Sasuke's life.

"There." Aoi rolled his eyes, pointing towards the side where Uchiha Sasuke is, with weird markings all over his body. "We're going to have a few words after this, buddy." He glared at Sasuke who glared back at him.

Uchiha (now known as Tsukishiro) Seina dropped down next to Sayo, glancing over the genins—her gaze resting on Sasuke for a tad bit longer, before turning her focus back towards the sand monster that is one Sabaku no Gaara. "Dear me…" Seina muttered in distaste. "Is it just me, or is his seal kind of fucked up?"

With a seals master like Sayo for a best friend, it only makes sense that Seina knew more about seals than the average nin. And so did Madara for that matter. After all, it had been a seal that had helped saved her life back then, though she did pay for it by being in a comatose state for nearly fifty years. And it had also been a seal that had saved Obito's life.

"I guess our intelligence is right then." Sayo sighed. She glanced at Seina. "Fighting against one of the tailed bijuu…" She muttered in distaste. "Not impossible, but I need your ability."

Seina nodded, pulling out her communicator and slipping it into her ear, with Sayo doing the same thing. "I'll guide you from here," she said before her eyes swirled and transformed into a pinwheel Sharingan, with only one major difference. Instead of the standard black and red for the normal Sharingan unless you count Sayo's Sharingan which is that of a colour mix between blue and red, Seina's Sharingan is that of a golden colour.

Because Seina had her back facing the genins, none of them could see that Seina is currently using the Sharingan, least of all Uchiha Sasuke.

…There would be lots of awkward questions to answer otherwise.

Sayo nodded to her best friend. "I'm counting on you from here," she said before she took off, landing onto the topmost bough of a tree, facing the roaring monster that is Gaara.

Seina concentrated on the sand monster, and just like the past several times when she had did this in the past, a flurry of images started flying past her almost as if in slow motion, and everything stopped, showing the stopped images being like that of a bad movie or something. She saw the sand monster's paw swinging at Sayo as she is still in midair, thus resulting in her being smacked into a nearby tree.

Seina's special Sharingan is different from that of Sayo's and even Madara's. While Madara's Sharingan allows him to manipulate time, and even manipulate space, and Sayo's allows her to summon unearthly creatures, and like Madara, manipulate space, and even use some abilities only useable for Rinnegan wielders, Seina's Sharingan allows her to see the future.

Only a few minutes into the future, but it always helps, especially when they're in battle. But like every powerful ability, it has its drawbacks. Whenever her 'Vision Eye' goes into activation mode, Seina will be open to attacks.

"Don't go airborne." Seina spoke into her communicator. "Three minutes from now, if you do, he'll smack you right into the tree."

"_Okay. Guess it's time for some ninjutsu then. It's going to get very cold in here, Seina. So if I'm you, I'll set up a barrier around the area where you're at if you don't want to get swept away."_

Seina rolled her eyes, though not that Sayo could see it. "Always with the weather theatrics," she muttered sarcastically before she formed several complicated hand seals that isn't familiar to the surrounding genins, and a dome barrier immediately covered herself and the surrounding genins.

Right on cue, there is a low rumble of thunder before gray clouds immediately started covering the skies.

"Thunder?" Aoi muttered, looking skywards in bewilderment, along with all the other genins. "It was still bright and sunny a few moments ago."

'_Here it comes.'_ Seina thought to herself. _'One of Sayo's most powerful seals – a seal that is enough to affect the weather itself. Raijin no Suzaku.'_

Lighting flashed across the skies and the temperature dropped several degrees even as the cold wind picked up, becoming almost a typhoon.

The rumble of thunder sounded almost ominous, almost as if something is about to happen.

**XXXXXX**

Orochimaru stared back into the angry eyes of his former student without fear, even as the dead bodies of Oto-nins laid everywhere.

After Madara had literally kicked him off the rooftop, Orochimaru had done his part in making sure that all summon creatures and monsters are destroyed. In order to achieve that however, he had to use his own summons. And summoning _snake summons_ is like painting a billboard with flashing colours, practically shouting 'I'm here! Come and get me!'

Thus, should Orochimaru really be surprised that he was literally chased through half of Konoha by his former student?

Especially since upon catching sight of him, Mitarashi Anko had chased him down even as he ran from her, leading the young woman into a place where there are barely anyone around, killing Oto-nins as she did so.

Now as he stared back at his student who is no longer a small child, naïve to the ways of the world, he can't help but feel proud at the ninja that the once rebellious girl is now, and that she can now stand on her own feet.

"Why?" Anko shouted at her former instructor. "I want you to tell me! Why did you leave Konoha? Why did you leave me back then? I won't believe the tales that they told me – that you experimented on humans. You wouldn't do that!" She grabbed hold of Orochimaru's shirt, her eyes looking straight into Orochimaru's own. "I know my sensei better than anyone else, and I will not believe those lies!" She nearly screamed, and Orochimaru's eyes widened. "The Orochimaru-sensei that I know is no such person! You are stern, and maybe some will even call you ruthless because of your battle strategies and plans, but you have compassion for human life. Such a person wouldn't experiment on humans! Answer me! Why didn't you tell me anything back then? I would have done anything for you! Why…?" Anko fell to her knees at Orochimaru's feet, sobbing silently. "Why didn't you take me with you?" The tough as nails kunoichi looked up at Orochimaru through tear filled eyes, being the vulnerable girl that Orochimaru had first seen at the Academy all those years ago, and had seen something in her that he likes enough to take her on as a student. "Sensei…"

Something in Orochimaru's heart broke as he saw Anko crying, and saw just how small and vulnerable that she looks right now. It reminded Orochimaru of the time when he was a little boy and he had heard of the news of Madara and Sayo's 'betrayal'.

Just like Anko, he had refused to believe those rumours, and had gone straight to Uchiha Haru and Shimura Danzo to get the facts. And even when they have confirmed the facts that his sensei and her husband _did_ confirm treason, though for a deeper reason that the two have refused to tell, Orochimaru still chose to believe in his sensei and her teachings.

Uchiha Sayo had been there for Orochimaru ever since his parents had died, and she had taught him many things. Things that no amount of ninja training could teach him. Things like strategies. How to get information. How to be a true ninja in the shadows. But more importantly, Uchiha Sayo had taught him to live again. Even though the entire village had believed her to be nothing more than a traitor, Orochimaru chose to believe differently. Like Danzo, he will willingly die for his sensei.

Looking at Anko now, it reminded Orochimaru of how he had been after Sayo and Madara have left the village. He had taken Anko as his student because she reminds him of how _he_ had been before Sayo had taken him in. Could it be that when he had left, he had recreated history all over again?

"…Anko…" Orochimaru knelt down so that he is kneeling in front of Anko, and grasped her hands into his own. Anko looked back at him with tear filled eyes. "I didn't want to take you with me as you were still young then, and you had friends in the village. I didn't want to turn you into a fugitive alongside me."

"But—"

"I had a reason for asking Shimura-sempai to fake my 'crimes' and banish me from the village." Orochimaru continued, and Anko's eyes widened at his words. "There aren't many who knew this, but my very first sensei – the one who had taught me ever since I was a small kid at the Academy had been the very first ANBU commander of Konoha, and also the renowned kunoichi who is so famous that every ninja in the world know of her name."

Anko's eyes widened. She knew whom Orochimaru is talking about. No kunoichi alive wouldn't know the name of the very person who had developed the ninja training system that every village in the world uses today, and is also the sole developer of nearly every seal that had ever existed and had also been regularly used by ninjas today. Like explosive tags and barrier tags for instance.

"…Uchiha Sayo…" she murmured, and Orochimaru nodded.

"She had been the kunoichi who had caused such an impact to the world during a time in history when kunoichis are generally looked down upon." Orochimaru stated. "She is my teacher. She taught me things that you can't possibly learn in the Academy and even on the battlefield. Things like strategies. Things like war tactics. How to understand the human mind… The reason why Shimura-sempai is as renowned as he is as Roots' commander is because of her surviving students, he is the only one who had underwent her full training until he had became a fully fledged ninja. I only underwent her training for a year before she went missing. Yet what she had taught me, I had never forgotten. Shimura-sempai never forgot her training either. You might call the ANBUs in Roots evil or even merciless, but Anko, _they_ are what true ninjas are." Orochimaru explained to the shocked Anko. "Make no mistake, the Roots ANBU _are_ the best in Konoha at intelligence and assassinations, and whatever a _true_ ninja is. Sayo-sensei trained me that way. She did for Shimura-sempai too. And however she had taught us, in turn, we taught our students the same way. Uchiha Sayo…had been my teacher. She gave me everything that I have today." Orochimaru admitted. "When I saw you in the Academy all those years ago, I saw myself in you." Anko's eyes widened. "During a time when I'd lost everything until Sayo-sensei came along. That's why I took you on as my student. I wanted to be what Sayo-sensei had been to me for you. I wanted to be there for you until you became a jounin, and thus, is strong enough to stand on your own feet. But like Sayo-sensei, I couldn't do that." He chuckled bitterly. "It's like history is rewriting itself, huh?"

"Why did you leave?" Anko asked. "Because of your teacher?"

Orochimaru nodded. "Anko, you worship me to the point that you would willingly give your life for me. I would do the same for Sayo-sensei." Anko's eyes widened. Truly, Orochimaru and herself are so eerily similar in the way that they would do anything for their teachers. "I would do anything for her. Just like how Shimura-sempai would do anything for her, even if it includes going against what the village and the Hokage wants. That's why, when I found out something…horrible surrounding the circumstances behind her 'betrayal' of the village all those years ago, I decided to leave the village." Orochimaru admitted. "I cannot possibly drag you with me as I became a fugitive – a traitor in the eyes of the village. I want to find my teacher. And in the first place, Konoha had never been fond of the Uchiha clan. They wouldn't do anything even if I tell the Hokage what I'd found out back then."

Anko was silent for several moments, a shocked expression on her face. She had never imagined that her teacher's leaving had something to do with one of the four founders of the village.

While officially, it is the Senju brothers who had built and founded Konoha, only the Konoha ninjas knew that in total, there are four founders, as it is covered in the history at the Academy that every Konoha ninja went through. But still, Uchiha Sayo and Uchiha Madara are relatively famous and well known, even to the other ninja countries.

Orochimaru studied his student for a long time before getting to his feet. "For what it's worth, Anko, you had become a ninja that I could be proud of," he told his student. "I'm only sorry…that it hadn't been me who had nurtured you." He smiled sadly. "Live on. Become someone whom I could never be. Become a ninja that Konoha can be proud of. And stay true and loyal to your heart always."

"You can still come back, sensei!" Anko desperately tried to cling onto straws. "Danzo must have the evidence that you're innocent! If we just show it to the Hokage…"

Orochimaru shook his head. "No. I can never return to Konoha. Not anymore. Besides, I still have a job to do." He smiled at Anko. "Maybe once it's over…" He patted Anko's head like how he always did when she is a child. "Maybe next time, I can…"

Anko closed her eyes as Orochimaru disappeared in a quick leaf shunshin, scattering leaves everywhere, the echo of his last words echoing around her ears.

'…_Maybe next time, I can…'_

'…_Next time…'_

Anko clenched her hands into fists by her sides. _'Sensei…'_

**XXXXXX**

The downpour was going at full-force, practically half flooding the clearing where they are. For Konoha who had rarely seen bad weather, let alone a downpour like this, it is a rare sight. But the downpour had done what Sayo wanted – the rainwater had clogged the sand of the monster so much that he could barely move.

A bijuu might be strongest in their element, but when faced with their weakest element, they are nothing much. The ninjas these days might not be able to face a bijuu, but for ninjas like Sayo, Seina and Madara who have lived during the chaotic time of the shinobi clan wars, facing a bijuu is nothing for them when they have faced worst than that.

After all, during the time of the shinobi clan wars, the several demon clans have often had territorial brawls and fights. It's just that in the recent years, the demon clans have nearly all died out, and whatever few that have survived just wished to live in peace and away from humans.

Sayo formed several one handed hand seals quickly even as she leapt from tree bough to tree bough, keeping her eyes on the Shukaku who is struggling with his waterlogged form. "Fuuton: Hanachiri Mai. (Wind Release: Falling Petal Dance)"

Several petals immediately started gathering and swirling like a strong typhoon around the agitated sand demon.

"_What is this? Get away from me!"_ Shukaku roared.

"Wow…" Takara watched with wide eyes, alongside the other genins. _'So this is a Tsuki jounin… I wonder, if I can do that someday?'_

Sayo leapt into the air, allowing the effects of her own jutsu to carry her towards the agitated sand demon who didn't notice her at all, and she landed easily on his head, just next to his sleeping vessel. Sayo glanced at Sabaku no Gaara, and muttered a small apology beneath her breath for what she is about to do next.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!" Sayo stated before swinging her foot back and catching Sabaku no Gaara in the cheek with enough force to crack his head back.

The genin woke up immediately and looked at Sayo with fear even as the sand started dissipating and he started falling towards the ground with it. Releasing the bijuu into its original form takes up a lot of chakra, and also mental and physical energy. Sayo will be worried if the genin isn't drained of his energy.

The redhead grabbed the boy before he could drop to the ground, and landed onto the rain-soaked ground with both feet, settling the boy gently against a tree, with Gaara looking at her suspiciously, and also with fear. After all, what normal person could overwhelm a bijuu like this?

"Show me your seal." Sayo commanded.

Gaara looked at her fearfully. She isn't going to kill him, is she? "Why?"

"Just show me." Sayo ordered.

With shaking hands, Gaara pulled up the hem of his shirt to expose his abdomen, showing the cracked seal that keeps his bijuu contained, and Sayo frowned when she saw it. It took all she had to not curse out loud at the bloody imbecile who had sealed the bijuu into the boy in front of her.

The seal that Gaara had on him is all fine and all for sealing demons or bijuus of two-tailed status and below into inanimate objects, but _not_ fine at all for sealing a bijuu into a human! She is surprised that the boy had actually kept his sanity this long. Probably, in about another year or so, he will soon succumb to the insanity and madness that always comes with this type of seal.

"I've heard of your problems, and while Suna is no ally of Tsuki, I'm not heartless enough to leave a Jinchuuriki's seal untended when a seal of this level and calibre can easily drive a human host mad if it is used on a living human." Sayo told Gaara, taking into account of how his eyes widened in fear. She bit on her thumb hard enough to draw blood and began adding several additional markings to the seal on Gaara's abdomen. A few swirls here and there. A few Kanji here. A few markings there. A few more locks on the seal so that the boy could finally sleep without the demon taking over. "A bijuu's rampage in the Elemental Nations is no joking matter." She told a stunned Gaara even as his siblings appeared on the scene, looking at Sayo warily. "I'm fixing the seal for you. And as Konoha is your ally, you should get their seals' master to look at your seal once every few years."

Sayo ignored the fact that Suna had just invaded Konoha. Things like that are to be sorted out by the villages involved. Tsuki has no hand in this.

The redhead then formed several unfamiliar hand seals, the fingers of her right hand glowing blue before she slammed it hard into Gaara's naval, causing him to grunt in pain. Temari reached for her fan immediately as Sayo removed her hand from Gaara's naval, and the two older siblings blinked in shock as they saw the now completed seal on their brother's stomach, and the fact that he is fast asleep, _snoring_ gently.

Sayo then got up and turned towards the two older Sand siblings with a critical eye. "Take care of your brother," she told them. "Whatever that your village decides in the future, especially with this invasion, I do not care. But if your brother needs any help with his seal or his bijuu, head to the land of Tsuki. Tell him to ask for Sayo." She glanced at the sleeping Gaara. "He won't have any problems with his seal anymore. He can sleep now. Even act like a normal kid."

"Why are you helping us?" Kankuro asked even as Temari went to check on Gaara to make sure that he's fine.

"Siblings…shouldn't fear each other. They are there to support each other." Sayo smiled sadly, remembering Izuna and how he had died. "Take care of him. Be his family. Be there for him."

Temari nodded. "We will," she said softly. "Thank you for everything that you've done."

Sayo smiled at Temari before disappearing in a quick shunshin.

**XXXXXX**

Uchiha Madara met the eyes of his once friend Senju Tobirama even as he started crumbling to dust beneath his hand.

The battle with Kakuzu hadn't been easy, especially since he is practically immortal. Three times, the Hokage had to save his wife from being cut into half by the immortal. It is mostly due to Minato's Hiraishin that they have been able to destroy three out of the five 'hearts' that Kakuzu had on his body.

Sayo had done extensive study on the ritual that Kakuzu had done back then after all. Madara knew about his immortality ability. In order to continue living, Kakuzu has to take the hearts of others and take it into himself. One effect that he will gain is the abilities and jutsu of whatever that the person had been originally capable of when they had still been alive.

And as if things hadn't been bad enough, Kakuzu had actually used the Edo Tensei technique, much to Madara and Minato's horror. Both knew what that technique is. Sayo had created it after all. Only to have it perfected by Tobirama and improved by Orochimaru later on. How Kakuzu knew that technique, they'll never know, but it gave them problems, especially when he revived the two former Hokages of Konoha.

Tobirama smiled at Madara sadly, his own brother crumbling to dust not far from him as Minato ripped the kunai containing the seal from his heart. "I'm glad to be able to see you for the last time. It's just a pity that I wasn't able to see Sayo." Madara growled. "But please tell her that I'm sorry that I couldn't do more."

"You didn't do that to her." Madara growled. "You don't have to apologise for him. If it's anything you're guilty of, it's for covering up for him."

Tobirama smiled. "You're as harsh as ever," he said wistfully. "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what had happened back then."

He then crumbled to dust completely, leaving a corpse behind in the pile of dust.

Madara narrowed his eyes as he recognised the corpse. He had all the profiles of the Sound genins sent to participate in the chuunin exams after all, and turned his attention towards Kakuzu who looked very smug.

"Your own subordinates, Kakuzu?"

"I'm sure that you've done worst than that." Kakuzu said uncaringly, even as Minato helped Kushina to her feet. "After all, all of us did back then."

"I never sacrificed my own kin or comrades." Madara growled, not liking to be placed in the same light as Kakuzu.

"Didn't you?" Kakuzu challenged, and Madara looked as if he'd just been slapped, as Izuna's death came to the fore of his mind. "I didn't expect for either you or that woman to be here, but I'd accomplished what I'd come here for."

"Answer me! What is Raven's Gate up to?" Madara snarled, ignoring the confused looks on the faces of Kushina and Minato, and even the ANBU team outside the barrier that they were in. "After eighty years, what are you planning?"

"Do you honestly think I'll tell you just because you asked?" Kakuzu snorted, digging a pinkie into his ear.

Madara narrowed his eyes, recalling the last phone conversation that he had with his wife before there is no word from her for at least a month. At least until she had sent a message to Tsuki with news of an invasion on Konoha.

"Is it your leader?" Madara asked carefully, judging Kakuzu's expression. From the almost maniacal expression on his face, Madara knew that he had hit the nail on its head.

"This is just the beginning." Kakuzu hissed almost maniacally. "This is just the start of Raven's Gate's debut. You will have to face the rest of the Inner Circle if you hope to bring us down. And let me tell you this now; I'm among the weakest amongst the group. If you can't even beat me, you will never beat Raven's Gate." Madara's eyes widened in shock. "We're leaving. Release the barrier." Kakuzu ordered the four maintaining the barrier.

The barrier immediately went down, and the four Sound ninjas maintaining the barrier immediately headed towards Kakuzu, protecting him from any attacks like the lapdogs that they are. "I'll give you a piece of information though, seeing as how you'd entertained me so much. You should ask your wife about this too, seeing as how she knew more about us than any other living person in the world. I know not where our leader is. I only know that he's still alive." Kakuzu smirked. "Until next time."

The five ninjas then disappeared in a quick flash of light.

Kakuzu's words weighing heavily on his mind, Madara glanced around him quickly only to see the Konoha ninjas raising weapons of all kinds threateningly and he sighed. "Dear me," he muttered. He glanced at the Hokage. "Send a messenger bird to Tsuki if you need to talk. Depending on my mood, we may or may not talk." He told the shocked Hokage.

Madara then sent a flare into the air that burst into orange sparks. That is the signal to all Tsuki ninjas that their head's cover had been blown, and if possible, for them to retreat. A rip in space was then opened next to him, and Madara stepped into it, disappearing just as soon as he had appeared.

* * *

"Sasuke, something wrong?" Takara asked with concern as she turned over her shoulder to look at Sasuke, supporting Aoi as they trudged the way back to the village.

"Nothing's the matter. I'm fine." Sasuke grunted, placing one hand over the seal on his neck. If anyone had been watching, they would have noticed the seal pulsing red, and Sasuke's eyes flashing gold.

**XXXXXX**

"Sayo." Madara greeted his wife the moment that he had appeared at the rendezvous point where he, Sayo and Seina have agreed on if their covers should be blown.

Madara isn't worried about the rest of his ninjas, as he had given the order for them to retreat and return home, and he trusted their abilities enough to trust that they would make it out of Konoha all right. Though Madara knew that there is a lot to clean up for the next few months. It is a big deal, especially if someone originally thought dead for years is seen walking around, looking the way that he is on the day when he had first defected from Konoha nearly eighty years ago.

"Seina is remaining in Konoha. She thinks that someone needs to do some explaining, or all hell will break loose. Especially with a supposed dead person walking around." Sayo explained. "No one knows who she is after all, so it'll be easier if she remains behind as compared to say, you or me. The genins and Zabuza are staying as well. Nagato and Konan and the Ame-nins are remaining in Konoha to help with the aftermath." Sayo told her husband, standing atop the hill that overlooks Konoha. "And last that I know, the genins are all right as well, save for a few scrapes and minor injuries. So expect for a request meeting from Konoha and some other countries soon."

"I know. And good to hear that." Madara sighed in relief. "But… You've felt it too, right?" He asked his wife who sighed and nodded. "And Kakuzu had stated as much. Though I would rather not believe anything that the crazed fool says, the fact that he had stirred up this much of a ruckus means that Raven's Gate is coming out into the open once more." He looked at Sayo who looked worried. "…He's finally awakened." He stated.

Sayo sighed. "The trouble begins now," she admitted. "We could no longer sit idly by. Everything has fallen into the worst case scenario. We can no longer stay hidden in the shadows." Madara silently agreed with her. "A shinobi from the past must be dealt by those from the past." Sayo sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It all begins from here."

* * *

_A/N: Like I'm saying, sorry for the long overdue update. But I update when I get inspiration, so please do not rush me for an update. Unless you don't mind a crappy chapter? Haha, jokes aside, thank you for being so patient with me and my regular long hiatus of updates. Next update will most probably be Luscious Spirits._

_Anyway, about Roots, while they're portrayed as the typical villain in canon, I always did feel like they're the type of 'antihero' in Narutoverse. They're the type of ninjas that could only be found during the era of the clan wars. In this universe, while Danzo did train them like how Sayo had trained him and Jiraiya and even Haru, Danzo didn't make them unfeeling and all that. So they're not the 'robots' that Roots are portrayed in canon._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review!_


	33. Aftermath

**Pairings:** Madara/Sayo. Slight Rihan/Hinata.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Three: Aftermath**

Uchiha (now known as Tsukishiro) Seina was _very_ relieved when she finally managed to leave the Hokage's office after being drilled by him, his wife, his ANBU Commander and the three stooges (Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu and Sarutobi Hizuren) for five hours straight. She took a glance at her side only to see a tired looking Momochi Zabuza who looked dead on his feet, and she twitched.

"Why are _you_ tired when you're just standing there in a corner whilst _I_ was the one doing all the explaining?" Seina stated, annoyed, eye twitching dangerously.

If truth be told, Seina had already predicted some of the chaos that will erupt after rumours of Uchiha Madara appearing at the chuunin exams had spread like wildfire, and that he is the Tsukikage. The fact that the Tsuki-nins currently still in the village hadn't been arrested yet is a surprise in itself, especially considering just how 'popular' that Madara and Sayo both have been in Konoha.

Now, Sayo hadn't been seen in Konoha except by those genins, and then again, they wouldn't know her face anyway. The only ones who _will_ know her face are those that is still among the living when Sayo had still been living in Konoha. Namely the three Sannins, the elders that have been in the office earlier, and Shimura Danzo.

Seina frowned slightly at that. The Roots' Commander had been present as well during that 'meeting' earlier, along with Jiraiya, but much like the Toad Sannin, he did not say a word even as his former teammates drilled Seina with question after question. He merely had a thoughtful look on his face as he listened to the questions being asked and any answer that Seina had given. The female Uchiha could almost hear the cogs turning in his head.

After all, Seina knew her best friend, and she knew that Sayo takes the sentence of 'look underneath the underneath' to an entirely different meaning. She is the world's best tactician for a reason. And amongst those that she had ever taken on as students, Shimura Danzo is the _only one_ who had ever underwent her full training. He is sure to have her teachings about tactics and strategies drilled into his head.

Sayo's strategies and plans are always full of psychological tactics. She attacks a person's mind directly. While it may be cruel, Seina has to admit that it is damn effective. And besides, in the first place, it is never easy to take apart any of Sayo's plans, let alone understand it. Hence why so many of their enemies didn't even realise that they've already fallen into Sayo's trap until they're already in it. Sayo's plans are always complicated and full of layers upon layers of manipulation, reasoning, research, calculations and careful planning.

She's a master manipulator.

Seina had grown up together with Sayo after all. While she didn't have the mind for strategies and tactics like Sayo, she can manipulate people and situations to one that is favourable for her. And she had decades of experience above any of the ninjas in the room earlier. Her answers to their questions aren't really outright lies, but just the truth covered in layers of manipulation. And probably, no one in the room except for perhaps Danzo had realised it.

Seina had only told them that yes, Uchiha Madara is really alive, and no, Tsuki have no plans to invade or ally with Konoha anytime in the near future. She is rather tempted to tell them the truth behind Orochimaru's 'betrayal' just so that he can stop looking over his shoulder, fearful of any Konoha shinobi or hunter-nin that will go after him for the bounty on his head, but Sayo had told Seina rather specifically to keep Orochimaru's name out of any Tsuki related business. The guy is still going undercover for them after all. It could mean his death if word got out to the underworld, especially Raven's Gate, if it is ever revealed that Orochimaru is working for them.

"I was just there as your bodyguard!" Zabuza complained loudly, ignoring the looks from the Konoha ninjas that they have passed whilst on their way out of the Hokage Tower. "Just listening to you deal with all that politic crap is enough to wear me out! I'll rather fight about ten S-class nuke-nins than deal with politics." He grumbled. "It is simpler."

Seina sighed in dismay. "Remind me why did Madara make you a jounin instructor _again?_ What on earth possesses him to entrust the next generation of ninjas to you, and not just any genins, but our very _best genins?"_ she groaned. Seriously, this man has no sense of tactics and strategies _at all!_ All there is in his head is 'attack attack attack'.

"Anyway, what's the situation now?" Zabuza asked Seina seriously even as they exited the Hokage Tower only to see the people of the village rebuilding all the destroyed stores and homes. Even the currently foreign ninjas who haven't yet left for their homes are helping.

Seina knew that Rihan had been helping the Hyuuga clan with their repairs, having gotten along quite well with their heiress and her cousin. Kyo and Haku on the other hand have gotten along like a house on fire with the Aburame clan. After all, the Aburame clan are rather feared and isolated even in Konoha itself. It makes sense why they'd warmed up to Kyo, as the blond haired teen possesses a fearsome power that makes everyone around him fear him.

Seina sighed. "Well, I've sorted out all the problems," she said. "I told them that yes, Uchiha Madara is still amongst the living. As they didn't ask about Sayo, I don't feel like filling them in." She paused. "But they're not stupid. I'm sure that they knew that Sayo is probably still alive, and with Tsuki as well."

"Did they ask why Madara-sama and Sayo-sama are still alive, and hadn't aged a day?" Zabuza asked, worried. In Tsuki, it is common knowledge that Madara, Sayo and Seina have their bodies frozen during their late teens. Thus, each of them still remained looking as if they were only eighteen or nineteen, even after decades.

"I evaded those questions." Seina scowled as she remembered Homura questioning her on this part. "I just told them that even they don't understand it themselves. They probably thought that it's some Uchiha related thing though." She groaned loudly as a stray thought hit her. "And that means they'll worship that brat even more. Or worse case scenario, get even _more_ on his case to find a wife—or _wives_ in this case." She muttered, eye twitching at the mere mention of the CRA (Clan Restoration Act).

Zabuza snorted. "They think that this 'immortality' shit is some bloodline ability related to the Sharingan?" he asked, incredulous. "Lucky that they didn't know that you're an Uchiha then, don't they?" He grinned.

Seina gave a small and tired smile. "But looking at them really makes me feel old," she admitted. "Things have changed from our time." She looked around the village. "Like Madara and Sayo, I've been through countless wars and battles until it has came to such a point that I truly detested conflict. A man can be destroyed, but not defeated." She looked at Zabuza who had an understanding look on his face. "Sayo said that to me once. I wonder how many decades have passed since then?" She mused. "Even people I've known for so long soon become strangers to me. People change and grow tired of having you in their life. I'm my own best friend." Seina stopped in front of a store, staring at her reflection in the glass window. "It's sad, but it is what it is." She whispered. "Eternity…is longer than you think it is."

**XXXXXX**

Hyuuga Hanabi grinned like an imp as she watched her sister chatting with that Tsuki guy that dropped by nearly every single day to 'help with the repairs' though it should really be 'to visit Hinata'. Her grin only widened as she saw her sister blushing whenever their sleeves so much as touch each other.

"What are you doing, Fireworks?" A voice rang out from behind her, and Hanabi turned only to see her cousin looking rather confused. "Are you spying on Hinata-sama?" Kisuke raised an eyebrow as he spotted Hinata and Rihan. "Isn't that Rihan? Did he come to say goodbye?" He wondered.

Hanabi looked confused. "Goodbye?" she echoed.

Kisuke nodded. "Yeah, I ran into that female teammate of his last night at the weapons' store, and she was saying something along the lines of them having to leave today as all Tsuki issues have already been settled. They still have their own duties in their own village after all. They have to leave sooner or later." He explained.

"Oh." Hanabi looked upset. "Rihan-nii is leaving?"

Kisuke sighed. "Come on, Fireworks, let's spar or something," he said briskly, turning Hanabi around and leading her by the shoulder. "You can show me just how much you've improved since I've last seen you spar…"

* * *

"So you're really leaving at last?" Hinata sighed, even as both teens stood at the entrance of the Hyuuga compound, ignoring the amused smiles that the two Hyuuga guards exchanged with each other over their heads.

She has to be blind and deaf to _not_ hear the stories going around the clan about her and Rihan. Rumours that she is a hundred and one percent sure that her sister had started.

It first started as the story of how Rihan had saved her during the chuunin prelims. Then it became a story of how Rihan had come to visit her when she was hospitalised. Then it became a story of how Rihan had fought for her sake during his fight against Kinuta Dosu.

The stories were fairly accurate in the beginning before it became more and more fanatical with each re-telling until it became something like how Dosu is some six foot tall muscled giant, and how Rihan had taken him down easily with just one strike (technically, Rihan _did_ take him down with just one move, but that is another story for another time).

Rihan grinned at her, and Hinata felt her heart skip a beat at this. "Well, we both knew that it is only a matter of time, seeing as I'd came from another village after all," he shrugged, and Hinata sighed. "We can always send letters to each other." He tried to cheer up Hinata.

"Courier ninjas don't always drop by Konoha, you know? Maybe only once every two months, or when they have a package to deliver." Hinata sighed. Courier ninjas are trustworthy enough when it comes to having a package delivered safe and sound. The only downside is that their services are expensive, and they don't always drop by ninja villages either.

"I know that. That's why this is a parting gift from me." Rihan grinned at Hinata with that crooked smile of his that made Hinata blushed, and he placed two fingers into his mouth and whistled a shrill whistle that caused the two guards and even Hinata to wince and cover their ears. There was silence for a few seconds before something white flew over the skies and swooped down onto Rihan's arm, cooing at the teen. "This is Akeha." Rihan explained to a bewildered Hinata, showing the girl the white eagle-hawk currently perched on his arm. "Every ninja in Tsuki has their own messenger bird. We even have a shop that sells messenger birds and even familiars. In Tsuki, majority of the ninjas uses eagle-hawks for communication purposes for when we're out in the field and needs to send a message back to the village. This little fella here is the child of my Kazeha." He showed Hinata the eagle-hawk on his arm who cooed at Hinata. "He's still rather young, so he's rather friendly with strangers."

As a rule, most ninja birds, especially familiars and messenger birds are rather suspicious of all strangers. This is more so for eagle-hawks who will never answer to anyone but their own master. Sayo's own messenger eagle-hawk is said to be the fastest bird in Tsuki, but also the most vicious.

"He's so cute!" Hinata smiled, clapping her hands like a little girl.

Rihan laughed at seeing this side of Hinata, and the girl in mention blushed. "He's for you." Rihan smiled, holding out his arm, and Akeha fluttered onto a surprised Hinata's shoulder. "He's been anxious to meet his new owner." He grinned.

"F-For me?" Hinata squeaked, turning her head to look at the eagle-hawk who cooed at Hinata and nibbled at a piece of her hair with his beak. "Are you sure?"

Eagle-hawks are rather rare and expensive after all. Hence why they are only native in Tsuki no kuni. And even then, eagle-hawks could only be found in the ninja village of Tsuki itself.

Rihan smiled and nodded. "Use him for communication purposes. It's what he's trained for, along with all his brethren," he explained. Rihan then clicked his tongue, and Akeha perked up, cocking his head to one side curiously. "Ask any of the bird carers in Konoha how to care for birds. But as Akeha is a eagle-hawk, he is more of a familiar and will only answer to you." He explained. "They are fast messengers. If you want to send a letter, use Akeha."

"He's cute." Hinata smiled, touching Akeha on the head gently even as the bird cooed at Hinata and preened his feathers proudly.

Rihan smiled at this. "Well, I'll be just a bird call away. By the looks of things, our villages probably won't be allying with each other anytime soon. But we will probably be less hostile," he said. "If I ever get promoted to chuunin, I'll apply for an ambassador position. If I get it, I'll probably be able to come to Konoha more often." He told Hinata. Rihan then sighed as he looked at his watch. "I should go soon. We'll be leaving in two hours."

"Rihan-kun!" Hinata called out before Rihan could leave. "Take a walk with me before you leave?" She asked.

Rihan smiled and nodded, shifting his duffel bag over one shoulder. "Of course."

* * *

"Will you be returning to active duty anytime soon?" Rihan asked Hinata even as they walked along the riverbank, taking in the warm breeze. The repairs on the Hyuuga compound are nearly completed, and all that is left to do is to fix up the windows, and it will then be done.

"I'm still on rehabilitation." Hinata managed a small smile. "I'm only allowed to do some light training and light workout."

"I see." Rihan sighed. "Well, take this as a break or something." He joked.

"I hadn't asked you before." Hinata glanced at Rihan out of the corner of her eye. "Why do you wear your sword on your left side?" She glanced at the cloth holster tied on Rihan's back, with his sword hanging just behind his left shoulder. Most swordsmen that she knew wear it the other way around.

The smile on Rihan's face slid off at that, and Hinata wondered if she'd said something wrong. "…Do you remember what I'd said about Kyo and myself before?" Rihan asked at last.

_More than anyone else, Kyo and I knew what it is like to be belittled and spoken down to. I grew up with Kyo, and saw what he had gone through as a child. And Kyo especially knew what it is like._

Hinata nodded mutely.

Rihan sighed, stopping in his tracks as he brought his left hand up to eye level. "I was born left-handed," he said at last. "That's why I wear my sword on my left, not my right. In a family of swordsmen, that is the ultimate disgrace." He had a sad smile on his face at that. "My entire clan, except for my own parents and a few others, despised me for being a left-handed swordsman."

"Why?" Hinata asked in confusion.

"For a swordsman, our soul is the sword itself. We show our dedication to the sword and the art by wearing it on the right. It symbolises the warrior's soul when we wear it on the right." Rihan explained. "My clan is originally a samurai clan. Hence, we take the samurai code and the sword code very seriously. That's why, to them, a left-handed swordsman in the clan, especially the clan heir, is the ultimate disgrace. If my father hadn't been the clan head, they would have excommunicated me from the clan a long time ago." His smile was sad. "And yet, no matter what insult that they'd hurled at me, no matter how biting that their remarks are, I'd never lost a fight."

"I guess every village had their own clan problems, huh?" Hinata smiled sadly. She can relate to Rihan's situation very well, though her own situation is a little different. Because she is from the main branch of the Hyuuga clan, she is expected to be better than everyone else. But Hinata herself knew that her cousin is more talented and stronger than she is.

Rihan sighed. "Ain't that the truth?"

**XXXXXX**

Jiraiya was rather concerned as he sat down with his student and his wife, along with Tsunade and Katou Dan in the Hokage's office, questioning Minato and Kushina about their battle with Kakuzu over and over again until they were sick of answering the same questions repeatedly.

"What's gotten you so riled, Jiraiya?" Dan asked, concerned.

"It's what Madara-san had said to this Kakuzu during that battle that you had with him that got me worried." Jiraiya replied. He exchanged worried looks with Tsunade. The two Sannins have been present during that infamous fight back then after all. "You are certain that they said 'Raven's Gate'?" He asked his student once more.

"Yes!" Minato almost shouted.

"What's going on, Jiraiya?" Kushina asked, confused. "Do you know something about this 'Raven's Gate'?"

Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged looks. "The story goes back to even before Konoha's founding." Tsunade answered at last. "You probably wouldn't know of this, as it wouldn't be in any of Konoha's records. But at that point, there was an internal conflict that broke out in the Fire Nation during the early days of Konoha."

"What do you mean?" Dan asked, confused. His family had only moved to Konoha when he was about eight, hence he wouldn't be aware about this part of Konoha's history that even Tsunade and Jiraiya have witnessed with their own eyes when they were little children.

Jiraiya sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Have you heard of Raven's Gate?" he asked wryly.

Kushina and Minato shook their heads in confusion, but Dan frowned, having heard faint whispers of this name during his childhood. "I think I've heard of this name before when I was a kid," he frowned. Dan's family had been travelling merchants when he was a boy before they've settled in Konoha. "I think that it's the name of some assassination organisation that had been around since the early days of the ninja. But as I've never really seen any signs of it before, I figured that it was just a nasty rumour."

"No." Jiraiya shook his head. "It doesn't exist anymore." He looked at Dan in the eye. "Uchiha Sayo…—Sayo-sensei broke the group up during that conflict."

"You mean that this organisation really existed?" Minato asked, shocked. Even he had heard brief stories of this organisation from his parents when he was a boy. But like Dan, he had assumed it to be just a scary story that his parents had told him to scare him.

"Yes." Tsunade nodded her head grimly. "During the shinobi clan wars, it was a chaotic time. There were no alliances made. No trust among the several shinobi clans. Just fighting and more fighting. At times, even the civilians would be dragged into those fights. Raven's Gate came into existence during the early days of the shinobi – when the elemental nations were founded. They are an assassination shinobi group – once under the direct control of the daimyo of Fire Country." She told them to their shock.

"Of course, it doesn't exist anymore however." Jiraiya added quickly. "Sayo-sensei broke the group up." He glanced at Tsunade. "The Senju clan took the initiative to invite the several ninja clans from all over Fire Nation to form a proper ninja village. Those clans agreed, and the agreement was sent to the Fire Daimyo who also agreed. That was when the problems started."

"Why?" Kushina asked, confused.

"Because Raven's Gate served the royal court of Fire Nation." Tsunade sighed. "They are the weapons of the Fire Daimyo. He give the order, they kill, they pillage, they fight, they literally do anything for him. But with a proper ninja village forming in his nation, the Fire Daimyo doesn't require them anymore. Besides, what do you think will happen should the ninjas in his own nation discover that the Fire Daimyo himself had been sending Raven's Gate assassins for as far back as they could remember to kill members of their own clan just because they are a hindrance to him?" Tsunade's smile was cold and grim.

"There will be a riot." Minato whispered, closing his eyes briefly. "Or even a civil war."

"That's right." Jiraiya nodded. "As there are only very brief whispers of their existence, it isn't too difficult to try to pretend that Raven's Gate had never existed. No one had ever seen their members and live to tell the tale. Thus, during the early days of Konoha, the group panicked. They are losing their power base after all. That's…why the conflict broke out in the first place." He looked uncomfortable. "It was a bloody one…" He whispered.

"What happened?" Minato asked, almost dreading to hear the answer.

"At that time, there were members of the Fire Daimyo's royal court who didn't want a ninja village in their nation." Tsunade explained. "You have to understand. This is during the time of the shinobi clan wars when ninjas were looked upon as monsters in human skin. The demon clans were huge in number at that time as well. They probably thought that they're basically handing Fire Nation over on a silver plate over to the enemy. They…didn't want the ninja village built. And they went about trying to make that wish a reality." She looked from face to face. "Using _any_ method available."

Their faces paled.

"Of course, Sayo-sensei heard whispers of this plot and went about trying to resolve it." Jiraiya explained. "She is a tactician, a strategist. She is an information gathering specialist. She, Uchiha Madara, the Shodaime and even the Nidaime all fought to stop this conflict from occurring. But they failed. A war broke out within the royal court of the Fire Nation. The side that wants Konoha to be built. And the other side that don't. And then…" He closed his eyes in agony. "…both parties started hiring Raven's Gate assassins to kill members of the other side." Kushina paled. "Council members were found dead. Wives and husbands of people on either side found slaughtered. Ninjas of Fire Nation who have known affiliations with certain people in the royal court were found brutally murdered. It was a bloody time. Finally, Sayo-sensei could take it no more. She started going after the members of Raven's Gate directly all by herself. She succeeded in destroying that group. I don't know the details of it. But suffice to say, after that, Raven's Gate was never heard of again."

"Me, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, and even Danzo and Sarutobi-sensei all witnessed that bloody conflict. We knew exactly what Raven's Gate is capable of." Tsunade said grimly. "I have no idea whatsoever if it is someone trying to revive this group or something. But if Uchiha Madara has involved himself with this, then they're probably back."

**XXXXXX**

"…I still remember." Sayo sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "That bloody conflict." Across from her, Madara sat still, but even he had an uneasy look on his face. "That is what Raven's Gate is capable of. They won't hesitate to commit genocide if they have to. As ninjas, we are still human. And as such, even we have certain morals that we won't cross, even back during the time of the shinobi clan wars. But the Raven's Gate organisation… They're as inhumane as they come." She shook her head slowly. "Monsters in human skin, huh?" Sayo mused, recalling the name that the civilians gave the ninjas of that time. "That phrase best describes them."

"Up to now, I still have no idea why the Fire Daimyo even keeps them around in the first place back then." Madara snorted. "If he had never hired them, the war wouldn't have happened in the first place. The First Great Shinobi War would never have broken out after that."

Sayo sighed, choosing to remain silent. After all, what is the good in saying anything to it? What's done is done.

There was silence for several moments. "…Haru." Madara mused.

"Huh?"

Madara looked at his wife. "I just remembered," he said. "Speaking about the past reminds me of it. In the Uchiha clan of the past, we tend to have this custom of creating a custom blade for our first born. Izuna did so for Haru when he was born. We gave him that blade that Izuna made for him when Haru made jounin, remember?"

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke coughed, almost choking on the thick dust that enveloped the underground shrine of the Uchiha clan.

He ignored the pulsing pain at the back of his neck as he ventured deeper into the shrine, heading into an area that he had never gone into before, the only light visible being a candle stand with a lit candle that he had brought with him.

"_Aniki, what are you reading?" A five-year-old Sasuke tried to climb into his older brother's lap to read what he's reading._

"_Just some old clan records." Itachi answered, not seeming to mind that his brother seems to be treating him like some chair. "It is said that Grandfather's sword is an Uchiha clan treasure – as it is one of the last blades in existence to be forged in Uchiha forges and strengthened by Uchiha fire." He recited as if reading from a book. "It is said that Grandfather's father made it for him when he was born. As it is an Uchiha-made blade, only a true Uchiha could use it to its full power."_

"_Wow!" Little Sasuke had his eyes widening at this tale. "What is this sword called?"_

_Itachi smiled at his brother's enthusiasm. "Well…"_

Sasuke approached the altar on which a sword laid on a worn out purple cloth. It had been several decades since the sword was made, but it still looks as new as if it was made yesterday. And probably just as sharp too, as Sasuke remembered from old clan records that Uchiha blades that were made by the Uchiha of old _never_ dulled and it will never rust either.

And currently, apart from Tenken that is rumoured to be Uchiha Madara's sword, this is the only other true Uchiha blade left.

* * *

"That sword…" Sayo's eyes widened as she remembered the blade. Izuna had slogged over that sword for days, trying to make it the perfect sword for his first born. "I heard from Itachi that the Uchiha clan stopped following that tradition after Haru's generation. In fact, I heard from him that the sword that Izuna had made for Haru is some revered treasure of the clan, as it was one of the few blades left in existence that was made in Uchiha forges, and forged by Uchiha fire. Majority of those blades were destroyed or lost during the shinobi wars after all. The sword that Izuna had made for Haru is one of the last ones remaining, if not the last."

Madara nodded grimly, fingers laced before his mouth. "And Izuna had always been a genius in making weapons," he remarked. Back during the shinobi clan wars, a lot of the Uchiha ninjas have also forged their own weapons. Hence why their weapons are said to be the best in the land. "Any weapon that he made is always bound to have its own abilities and powers – varying from user to user. When Haru uses it, and when he unleashes its full power, he is able to set forth a storm of fire. That blade is fire-based after all. Izuna created the most powerful sword that he had ever created in his lifetime for his own son."

Sayo frowned. "If it falls in the hands of evil, it will _not_ be good news," she murmured, uneasy at the mere thought of just what type of damage that it can do if in the hands of the wrong person.

Madara agreed with his wife. "Izuna and Seina named this sword themselves. Do you still remember what they called it?"

Sayo sighed. "Of course," she said. "It's a rather ironic name…"

* * *

Sasuke gave a dark smirk as he lifted the blade. He could almost feel power at his fingertips. Yes, he can feel it. This sword shall be the one that will take his brother's life. This sword shall be the sword of justice for his dead clansmen.

It is pretty fitting after all. An Uchiha blade used to execute the traitor Uchiha.

_What is this sword called?_

Sasuke smirked as he unsheathed the sword partially, the sharp steel of the blade glinting in the candlelight.

"Uchiha Itachi… With this sword, I shall take your life. I can feel it. The power that this sword will grant me." He grinned almost manically, barely even noticing the seal on his neck pulsing red with each heartbeat. "This…"

* * *

"…Harusame." Sayo said with a small smile. "Named after Izuna's own son – the rightful wielder of the sword."

"Only Haru can wield the sword to its fullest potential. But if it's anyone directly descended from his line, maybe…" Madara frowned. "Just maybe…"

Sayo sighed. "I've got a bad feeling about things…" she murmured.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the long awaited update! Those of you who wanted some fluff between Rihan and Hinata, I hope that you like this. Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!_


	34. Defection

**Pairings:** Madara/Sayo. Slight Rihan/Hinata.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Four: Defection**

"Hmm…" Uchiha Madara frowned as he read and re-read a letter that he'd gotten just an hour earlier for the umpteenth time. His sister-in-law who is seated in the chair across from him in the Tsukikage office raised a brow in confusion at his stranger-than-normal behaviour.

"What is it? Who is that letter from?" Uchiha Seina asked.

It had been a week ever since Seina's return from Konoha, and the great hoo-ha all over the elemental nations because of Madara's supposed 'revival' from the dead is slowly dying down a little. Seina doubts that it will actually die down however, considering the fact that Madara and Sayo's names are pretty well known to everyone out there. And not to mention that they're rather infamous in a way to the people of Fire Country.

"It's a letter from the Hokage." Madara said slowly, looking at Seina carefully, with the letter in his hands. "He has a mission that he requires our assistance with immediately, and had hereby requested for the assistance of a three man cell."

"What mission?" Seina asked with a frown.

Before Madara could answer, the door to the Tsukikage's office swung opened, and Uchiha Sayo stepped in, looking rather irritated. The redhead had gone missing ever since the invasion over at Konoha had ended, stating that she has to investigate some stuff. What exactly, no one knew.

"I just got word from one of my spies. Uchiha Sasuke defected from Konoha a few hours ago." Sayo informed the two in the room grimly, closing the door behind her. "And with the weakened state that the village is in after the invasion, they're rather low on manpower as a result, and thus, a team comprising of genins have been sent out to retrieve him."

Madara rolled his eyes in annoyance. He had anticipated something like this happening, given all that he had heard about Izuna's great-grandson from his ninjas, and even from Seina. "Let me guess, he'd gone to seek 'power'?" he guessed, and Sayo gave a solemn nod. Madara let out several curses. "Pathetic. Back in our time, no Uchiha would be caught dead bowing our head to someone else."

"What should we do?" Seina asked, looking from Sayo to Madara.

"Suna had already agreed to send assistance. But it will be three days before they can even arrive in Konoha. It'll take our ninjas two days at best to reach Konoha. But that is if you are even willing to send assistance." Sayo told Madara.

Seina frowned. "…Something's not right here," she said at last.

Madara grunted. "You think so too, huh?"

"Well, I can't deny that something is a little off about this. Everything about this gives me a real bad feeling…" Sayo admitted. "Whether it has something to do with the matter that I've told you about a month ago or not, I really have no idea. But chances are that it has something to do with _them."_

Seina sighed. "This has Raven's Gate written all over it," she declared. She shook her head. "Figures. After decades of laying low, they're finally coming out." She glanced at Madara who looked annoyed. "What are you going to do? Are you going to help?"

Madara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to ease his headache. "…Send for Rihan, Kyo and Haku," he said at last.

**XXXXXX**

Namikaze Takara was not having a good day.

It had been a pretty rough month on her, what with being sent on mission after mission with her fellow newly promoted chuunin comrade Nara Shika after the chuunin exams that have all but ended in disaster thanks to the invasion.

Yes, she, Namikaze Takara, daughter of the Yondaime Hokage and the Red Death, also heiress to the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans, was one of the two genins in Konoha that got themselves a promotion to the rank of chuunin.

And ever since then, Takara had to endure the endless teasing from Aoi, Ino, Chouji, Kiba and Hinata. Though the redhead could do without the jealous glares that are enough to burn a hole through her head from a certain Uchiha teammate of hers.

Even though the invasion on them from the new Oto village had failed, it didn't mean that Konoha didn't suffer any losses. They'd lost many good ninjas during that invasion, and as a result, their forces have been low as a result. Takara had suspected that the reason why both she and Shika have gotten themselves promoted as a result despite the chuunin exams ending in disaster is also partly because of this reason.

Even ninjas like Sasuke's foster mother who usually stayed in the village had been sent out on missions of B-class status and above. Hibiki-san and Kaiga-san who have been the old teammates of Sasuke's foster mother have often been sent out with her as well. Takara knew for a fact that even several of the genins that have graduated together with her have been forced to take on C and even low B-ranked missions all on their own without their jounin instructor's presence.

And thus, barely a day after she'd just completed a B-rank mission in Tea Country, Nara Shika had turned up on her doorstep even before the sun had risen, informing her solemnly that Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke had left Konoha with four Oto-nins, and that they're being sent to retrieve him.

Their orders from Takara's father, the Yondaime Hokage are very clear: they are to gather as many allies of genin rank as possible and retrieve Uchiha-Hatake Sasuke before he reaches the border of Fire Country. If he ever crosses the border, they are to abandon the mission. And if they weren't able to retrieve him alive, the mission parameters will then switch from being one of retrieval to one of elimination.

Sakura-san, Sasuke's foster mother had been present when Shika was given his orders from the Hokage, and she'd looked very conflicted, but she'd accepted that her son had committed treason against Konoha, and is to be treated like a criminal, a traitor.

Thus, an hour after this mission was given to them, Shika and Takara both have managed to assemble a pretty decent sized task force for this mission that includes Kiba, Chouji and Hyuuga Kisuke.

Nothing however had prepared Namikaze Takara for the idea that Sasuke actually _wants_ to kill her.

_This is just not my day,_ Takara almost moaned even as she readied herself as Sasuke came at her with another attack.

* * *

Nara Shika was _not_ having a good day.

First, he was dragged out of his comfortable bed in the morning by his mother. And just as he is planning to get some cloud watching done in his favourite spot, a chuunin messenger was then sent by the Hokage, and before he even knew what is going on, he was then sent on his first A-ranked mission alongside Namikaze Takara as chuunin leader. And just as he thought that things could not get any worse, he then realised that they're up against none other than the Sound Four – four of the best shinobis in the Sound Village, and he was then forced to split up his team just so that they could retrieve one wayward genin who is more trouble than he seems.

He is currently locked in a battle against the Oto kunoichi, Tayuya, and Shika wondered for the hundredth time why he was fighting her _again._ I mean, he didn't even like Sasuke, for crying out loud! And why is it that all his battles thus far were against _girls?_ It is definitely doing nothing for his reputation!

And his pride as a man had taken quite a hit when he realised that this woman is definitely stronger than him, and had some good techniques in her arsenal. Shika groaned and made a mental note to himself to train more with his father, and to get more offensive techniques in his arsenal if he ever got out of this alive.

The lazy chuunin is currently struggling with his shadow neck bind technique on the foul mouthed kunoichi who had already transformed into her level two cursed form. He had to admit, this girl is pretty good in strategies and making up tactics on the spot, and he'll probably ask her for a shogi match if she wasn't so damned troublesome.

"Kuso…" Tayuya cursed. "I'd never imagined that a weakling like you is enough to push me to use the level three state."

And to Shika's complete and absolute horror, his control over his shadow neck bind technique soon started slowly slipping as his opponent's chakra and power grew tremendously, and he was soon having trouble even using the Shadow Imitation jutsu on her.

_This is just not my day. I knew that I should have just stayed in bed today,_ Shika moaned.

* * *

"We're getting close," said a silver haired serious looking teen, looking in several directions at once whilst hopping within the trees. His eyes then narrowed as he looked in a certain direction, one hand reaching out for his sword, yet not sheathing it. "I sense several chakra spikes."

"Two are fairly low." His companion, a teen with golden-blonde hair added, eyes closed briefly as he got a feel of all the chakra signals in the area. "If they don't get medical attention immediately, they'll die."

"A rescue team from Konoha is probably on its way. Besides, the Suna team had been told to assist with the transport and resuce of the injured ninjas." A raven haired kunoichi told her two male companions. "We have our orders."

"Let's go." The silver haired teen ordered, before they took off once more.

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba was breathing heavily as he slumped against a tree, holding an unconscious Akamaru close to his body, watching the twin brothers now currently going into their level three cursed state advancing on him.

Damn.

If nothing short of a miracle happens here, Kiba is sure that he is most probably going to be dead in a few minutes.

"I'd never imagined that you'll force me to use this." Sakon growled, his voice deepening with each moment as he progressed slowly into his level three state, soon resembling more of a demon than anything else, rather than a human. "This is over!"

Kiba closed his eyes, awaiting his death.

* * *

Namikaze Takara looked at Sasuke, examining him slowly from head to toe, trying to find any traces of the boy whom she'd known since early childhood. She tried, but failed to find any trace of the stoic and silent Uchiha. The person that is currently standing across from her… She doesn't know who he is.

"Is this your decision, Sasuke?" Takara asked at last, tightening her hold onto her sword, even as the two teammates stood atop the heads of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara at the Valley of the End – the borders separating Fire Country and the Rice Field Country.

The clothes of both teammates were tattered and torn in several places, and there were even several serious-looking injuries on Takara's person, yet she ignored it all. Her breaths were also coming in sharply, and the redhead is pretty sure that she must have at least broken three ribs.

"Yes," said Sasuke without any hesitation. "Konoha can't give me anything anymore. If they can't give me the power that I want—or deserve—then why should I stay? Why should I stay in a village that refuses to give me the power that is rightfully mine to begin with? Why do they grant the rank of chuunin to you and that useless Nara of all people? Why not me?" He almost screeched at Takara.

Takara eyed Sasuke carefully. Aoi had warned her several days ago about Sasuke's growing jealousy, and that he had seen what seems to be extreme hatred from him directed at Takara once. The redhead had dismissed Aoi's words at that time, sure that Aoi is just overreacting, and that this is just a phase that Sasuke is going through. Right now, however, Takara had never wished so much that she had listened to Aoi.

"_You understand, don't you?" Namikaze Minato told Takara solemnly, the Hokage having came to the gates of Konoha to see the retrieval team off. As the Hokage, he can't just leave the village to go and retrieve some genin, no matter how much he wished that he could._

"_Yes," said a rather depressed Takara. "If all attempts at persuasion failed, then the parameters of the mission will change from being one of retrieval to one of assassination."_

_Minato sighed. "It kills me that I have to order this, Takara, but please understand my position too," he told his daughter. "I __**can't**__ allow the Sharingan to fall into enemy's hands."_

"_I know that, Dad." Takara sighed, looking up at her father. "He's my friend. If I can't bring him back any longer, then I'll rather that I'm the one that killed him."_

'_Sorry, Sakura-san, Sakumo-san…'_ Takara thought to himself. _'Forgive me, Aoi. From the looks of things, words of persuasion can no longer reach Sasuke. If so…'_ She closed her eyes briefly.

"_You're coming back, right?" Aoi asked Takara. "I can't go with you guys. But seeing as I'm in the medic program, if my mom permits it, I'll join the medic team that will be sent out in a few hours."_

"_Of course." Takara nodded. "I'll come back alive. I'll bring back Sasuke as well."_

_Aoi smiled sadly at her. "Stop deceiving yourself, Takara," he said. "You know as well as I do that that might not be possible. If all methods of persuasion fails, you have to kill him. There's too much at stake here if we just allow him to fall into enemy's hands. You know that." He looked deep into Takara's blue eyes with his own gray ones, trying to let the importance of this sentence set in._

"_I'll rather not deliver the news of their son's death to Sakura-san and Sakumo-san. And even Kakashi-sensei." Takara said sadly. "But… I'll try."_

_Aoi smiled. "That's all that I'm asking for."_

"I promised Aoi. I promised my dad too. And everyone." Takara stated, drawing out her sword for the first time in her life ever since her mother had given her that sword after the chuunin prelims. "If persuasion through words can't reach you anymore…" Sasuke narrowed his eyes even as the rays of the sun bounced off the steel of the sword. "If I can't convince you to come back with me to the village on your own free will…" Takara narrowed her eyes, getting into a stance unfamiliar to Sasuke. "…I'll stop you here! _I'll kill you!"_

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in anger. She thinks that she could kill _him?_ Him, an _Uchiha?_

"Try it if you can, Takara!" he roared, the familiar chirping sound of the Chidori forming in his hand. "Die!"

* * *

A wall of ice immediately formed in between Nara Shika and Tayuya, whilst a barrage of ice jutsus were immediately launched at the foul mouthed kunoichi, knocking her off the tree bough that she is currently standing on, thus saving Nara Shika's life.

'_What?'_ Shika blinked at the sight of ice in the middle of _summer._ There is only one person that he knew of that uses ice as her domain. _'Ice? Then it must be…'_

"Who the fuck are you?" Tayuya snarled as she regained her bearings after managing to regain her balance, even as a petite figure dropped on a tree bough in between Nara Shika and Tayuya.

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba was surprised to find that he feel no pain, and opened his eyes.

His brown eyes widened slightly in surprise when he caught sight of the figure standing in between himself and his opponent, relishing in the surprised and shocked look on Sakon's face. The new arrival's golden-blonde hair almost shone in the sunlight, his back facing Kiba.

Kiba smirked. "It seems like the negotiations that the Yondaime had with your village had been successful," he stated. The new arrival didn't turn around to face Kiba, but he nodded. Kiba grinned. "And it looks like you guys are our allies this time around."

* * *

There was the sound of a loud crack as Uchiha Sasuke was sent flying backwards and crashed straight into a nearby boulder.

The eyes of Namikaze Takara widened in shock and wonder at this new arrival before she smirked. "I do believe that this has happened at least once before," she stated, and the newcomer smirked at her.

Sasuke got to his feet gingerly, snarling at the new arrival. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

* * *

"Konoha's allies," said Yukina Haku with a smirk, dismissing the ice that had coated the nearby tree boughs.

* * *

"The ninjas…" Tatsuyama Kyo started, not taking his eyes off of his opponent.

* * *

"…of Tsukikagure." Sasaki Rihan finished, eyes glinting coldly at Uchiha Sasuke whom he'd just kicked into the opposite boulder.

* * *

Haku scowled to herself as the foul mouthed kunoichi immediately disappeared from sight. Oh, she knew that the Oto kunoichi is still somewhere around, as she could still sense her chakra signal. But it's just so faint that she can't even pinpoint her exact location.

"Damn, she's fast at running away." Haku muttered to herself, senbon needles clutched in her right hand, as her eyes scanned her surroundings quickly. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of several…spirit-like demons coming her way. As quick as lightning, Haku immediately summoned several sharp icicles wordlessly, destroying those demons immediately.

'_Without the jutsu's name?'_ Shika yelped silently, staring at Haku with silent fascination and a newfound respect for the kunoichi. After all, using a jutsu without using handseals OR announcing the jutsu's name takes some skill. _'And damn, she's really good. She's really scary as an enemy, but as a possible ally, she couldn't be of more help! Unlike me, she has some good techniques.'_

Haku glanced at Shika over her shoulder. "It seems like I've arrived here just in time," she stated, studying the profile of the bruised and battered Leaf chuunin. "Just a moment later, and you would have been drinking tea with the Shinigami in the Great Beyond."

Shika grunted something beneath his breath before he got to his feet, feeling something in his manly pride taking quite a hit at having his ass saved by a girl. "Well, I'll say my thanks here then," he grumbled. "A man can't just stand back and let a woman protect him. Furthermore, I can't lose face in front of a girl."

Haku rolled her eyes in annoyance. Sure, she had met some shinobis in her lifetime who are extreme sexists before. Her teammate Rihan is also rather gentlemanly himself. But at the very least, he has some respect for the people of the fairer sex, and he treats women well. But this…guy…

She turned lazy eyes towards Shika. "And who is it who just got his ass saved by said 'girl'?" Haku questioned sarcastically, making quote marks in the air, and Shika twitched. She then turned her attention towards her surroundings in search of the Oto kunoichi once more. "Furthermore, I've only just gotten here. Give me a brief analysis of her skills and the situation."

"Erm… Right," said Shika with a cough before he started ticking off points on his fingers. "She's a genjutsu specialist and a long ranged fighter as she can summon demons using that flute of hers and control them using sound. The most troublesome genjutsus to deal with are those that activate using sound since the caster can hide somewhere and cast her genjutsu and before you knew it, you'll be trapped in her genjutsu. Because you're a long ranged specialist as well, she probably realises that this is a bad matchup for her and took to hiding in the trees. We should retreat somewhere and make a plan."

Haku glanced at Shika. "Excuse me, I wasn't asking for your opinion on strategy," she scoffed. "I've never asked you for your opinion. I only asked you to give me a brief analysis of her skills and the situation here."

"Huh?"

"My skills…" Haku performed a number of handseals slowly – obvious that this isn't a jutsu that she'd used often, if at all. "…aren't to be underestimated!" She finally completed the sequence of handseals, and a large influx of chakra surrounded her body. "Ice Release: Stagalmites of Hell!"

There was silence for a moment before there was a low rumbling from the earth, and much to Shika's shock, sharp icicles started sprouting from the earth, producing icicles that are as large as they are sharp. Haku actually has to grab hold of his arm so that he don't fall off the tree and get himself skewered on one of those icicles.

There is no way that anyone could survive this jutsu.

Shika winced and glanced at Haku fearfully who is merely watching the scene with a cool eye. _'Scary… She is even scarier than my mother. Troublesome woman.'_

Haku glanced at Shika. "Satisfied?" she smirked. "Not bad, is it?"

Shika groaned. He just wants to get back home and crawl into his warm bed. But before that, he has a mission to complete. Why did he listen to his mother and become a ninja? He should have gone with his first instincts and just become a civilian instead.

"Let's just find that troublesome woman and get it over with. I just want to get back to Konoha and sleep the whole day away."

It didn't take the two long to find the Oto kunoichi who was lying beneath some collapsed boughs after Haku had deemed it fit to dismiss her ice, a peaceful expression on her face, her flute still in her hand. Shika eyed the Oto kunoichi, an unreadable look on his face.

Haku glanced at Shika knowingly. "Is this your first time that you saw someone die?" she questioned, and Shika nodded sullenly. She sighed. "It's always hard. Your first kill. Your first death. But that's just the way it is. We're shinobis. We kill. All of us knew this when we picked this career. Even if it's an enemy, once you're fought with her for a while, you can get attached to her. This is life."

Shika nodded before reaching down and pulling the flute out of Tayuya's hand and snapping it in half before dropping the pieces atop her body just as the tree boughs collapsed in a heap, burying Tayuya beneath them.

'_Goodbye.'_

* * *

Tatsuyama Kyo kept a wary eye on the…shinobi? Shinobi_s?_

"Oi, what is up with them?" Kyo asked Kiba, not taking his eyes off of the twins, side stepping another attack easily.

Kiba froze as he recalled the twins' ability. "Be careful!" he shouted to Kyo. "They have the ability to merge themselves with the bodies of their opponents!"

"Hah?"

"Too late!"

Kiba watched with horror as Ukon tried to merge with Kyo. 'Tried' being the keyword here. There was a moment of silence before the monster-like twin started screaming and clawing at his face, unmerging himself from Kyo's body.

"W-What is this?" Ukon screeched, clawing at his face. "It hurts! It burns!"

Kiba watched with disguised fascination as Ukon's body seemed to be…rotting away.

"Ukon!" Sakon shouted in horror.

"I guess no one ever told you not to try that trick with a member of the Tatsuyama clan," said Kyo calmly. "People of my clan don't even go to the hospital, and any medic that we see are one from our own clan. The blood that flows in my veins are toxic itself. It acts as a fast acting acid. We aren't known as the 'Longevity' clan for nothing. The cells in my body will reject any foreign object, thus destroying it at a celluar level. But enough speaking." Kyo shook his head. "It's time to end this. And just a word of warning here: we shinobis from Tsukigakure aren't as easy going as those of Konoha."

"You'll pay for this!" Sakon roared, rushing towards Kyo, a kunai in each hand.

"Yare yare." Kyo shook his head, keeping an eye on Sakon. "Close your eyes." He warned Kiba. "You shouldn't see this." Kiba immediately obeyed his instincts by following what Kyo told him to do. From what he knew Kyo could do, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to see what Kyo would do to the Oto-nin.

There was silence for a few moments before there was a loud anguished scream from Sakon. When Kiba finally mustered up enough courage to open his eyes, he saw that Sakon seemed to be rotting away from his face first where Kyo had his hand on.

The blonde's eyes were cold and without mercy. "Say hello to the lord of the underworld for me." Kyo told Sakon coldly. "And treat this as a lesson for the near future: never take your eyes off your enemy."

With a loud hiss, whatever was left of Sakon then crumbled into dust.

Kiba shivered to himself. _'Damn, I can never get comfortable around this guy, knowing what he could do. But…'_ He smirked to himself. _'They're indeed scary as enemies. But as potential allies, I couldn't have asked for anything better.'_

**XXXXXX**

Sasaki Rihan glanced at Namikaze Takara.

"Namikaze-san, can you meet up with the Suna team and head back to the village with them? Leave this to me." Rihan kept a close eye on Uchiha Sasuke even as he got gingerly to his feet.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Takara said stubbornly, holding onto her side. By the looks of things, she must have broken at least three ribs. "He's my teammate. If I have to, I'll end his life myself." She declared.

Rihan turned his eyes skywards and muttered something irritable beneath his breath. Why are all Konoha ninjas such _idiots?_

"I'm going to be blunt here. You won't be of much help here in the upcoming battle. In fact, you'll be more of a hindrance to me, to be frank. Help your friends. I think some of them will really require medical assistance. Go. Furthermore…" Rihan glanced at Sasuke. "I think it's better for you if you don't watch this."

Takara was hesitant before she remembered how Rihan had helped Hinata during the chuunin exams, and she nodded. "All right. Thank you." She then turned to leave, but not before passing a backward glance at Sasuke.

"All right." Rihan sighed as Takara left the area. "Let's end this." His eyes turned cold as he looked at Sasuke. "People like you make me sick. You will try to kill your own friend all because of some power? You will abandon your own family, a village that loves you and set upon your friends just because some guy had promised you power?"

"What family? I lost my family at the age of eight thanks to that traitor of a brother of mine! I have been _alone_ since then!" Sasuke screeched at Rihan.

* * *

Within the trees where they could see both Sasuke and Rihan, Uchiha Sayo placed one hand on Itachi's shoulder, shaking her head. The redhead then studied Sasuke fervently.

'_A family took you in when you'd lost your own, treating you as one of their own, and yet, you claim that you've been alone since the day you'd lost your biological family?'_ Sayo thought with a scowl. _'Just how low has the clan fallen since our day?'_

* * *

Rihan stared at Sasuke for a very long time without saying anything before he growled low in his throat. "…Okay. Now I understand why Sayo-sama and Madara-sama told me not to hold back with you. That I'm free to kill you if I deem it necessary."

"Don't you dare speak their names!" Sasuke roared at Rihan, spittle flying everywhere. "I've heard the news. They… They're part of my clan! From over fifty years ago! They should know what happened to the clan four years ago! Yet why? Why didn't they come for me?"

* * *

Itachi's heart clenched painfully at the mere memory of that night, and Sayo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. And it wasn't your choice. You know that." Sayo whispered. "Don't blame yourself, Itachi. There _wasn't_ any other choice."

"I know that." Itachi whispered. "But…" He closed his eyes briefly, recalling everything that Rihan, Haku and Kyo have told him about his younger brother.

He remembered what Sayo and Madara and even Seina-san have told him about Sasuke. He remembered what he'd seen and heard with his own eyes and ears. He'd even seen for himself just what he'd done to Namikaze Takara, his _own best friend,_ and how she had refused to fight him. It had taken Sayo everything that she could to make sure that Itachi doesn't jump down to interfere. The redhead had taken him with her to this mission just so that he can witness just how Sasuke have turned out to be, and just how low he had fallen.

"Sasuke…" Itachi whispered. _'Foolish little brother… By the Gods, Sasuke… What have you done? What have you become?' _He thought with desperation.

* * *

"Why didn't they seek revenge for the clan? They have all that power at their disposal, and yet why? Why didn't they kill Itachi?" Sasuke screamed.

Rihan's eyes flashed dangerously.

Uchiha Itachi had been a highly respected individual amongst the ninjas and even the civilians of Tsukigakure. He had worked hard for his own skill, never relying on his doujutsu, and had even helped to train some of the younger ninjas whenever he is free. Thus, the young man is very popular amongst the village. He is especially popular with some of the young ladies in the village, much to Sayo and Madara's amusement.

Rihan, Kyo and Haku especially have idolised Uchiha Itachi. During the early days of their genin days with Zabuza, Itachi had helped to train them as well. Especially since the young man could connect well with them, particularly Rihan who often has to rise to his clan's demands, and the treatment that he had to face from them because of the mere fact that he is a left handed swordsman.

"Don't you dare speak their names!" Rihan growled, and Sasuke stopped in his tirade. Within the trees, Itachi and Sayo exchanged concerned looks. Even for them, this is the first time that they have seen Rihan getting angry. The time with Kinuta Dosu doesn't really count either. "You don't even deserve to speak their names, much less be in their presence! Itachi-sempai is worth a hundred of you! You're lower than the dirt beneath his shoe! You aren't even aware of the sacrifices that he has to make for you! You have everything, and you threw it all away! Blame no one but yourself for how things have turned out!"

"Do you know Itachi?" Sasuke growled dangerously.

"After the Uchiha massacre, Sayo-sama and Madara-sama took Itachi-sempai back with them to Tsukigakure." Rihan answered calmly, much to Sasuke's shock. "He had been a respected jounin and ninja. Everyone in the village loves him. I have a hard time believing that you're really related to him." Rihan's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Now I have a question for you, Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke stilled in fear as Rihan drew out his White Dragon slowly. "In how many pieces do you want to be returned to Konoha?" Rihan asked pleasantly in a dangerous tone. "Unlike your fellow Leaf-nins, I have no qualms of killing my opponent, especially a disgusting traitor like you. You don't deserve to be called a ninja! Even _bandits_ have more honour than you, you disgusting traitor!"

That got Sasuke mad all over again.

"I'm no traitor! ("What do you call leaving Konoha then? A vacation?" Rihan muttered sarcastically) The one that is a traitor is Uchiha Itachi! And that kage of yours! They are traitors to the Uchiha name! I'll hunt them down and kill them almost as soon as I'll kill you!" Sasuke screeched in unrestrained rage.

Within the trees, Itachi froze. _Uh oh._

Next to him, Sayo slapped her forehead. _Oh boy, this is not going to be pretty,_ she thought, eyeing Rihan's still form warily. The saying that it is the quiet ones that are the most dangerous has some truth in it. Rihan rarely loses his temper. But when he does, it is a sight to see. His clan often pushes him to his limit. But even they knew enough not to insult or threaten the people that Rihan loves. Not unless they want to wind up on the wrong side of Rihan's sword.

"Uchiha." Rihan's barely restrained angry voice stopped Sasuke's tirade. "You're so dead."

Sasuke never saw Rihan coming. All he saw was a black blur, and acting on sheer instinct alone, he pulled out a kunai only to hear the clang of metal on metal before the kunai was cut in half. Sasuke's eyes widened in horror as he saw a furious Rihan in front of him before he was kicked into the boulder once more.

"I should just spare Konoha the trouble and kill you myself." Rihan hissed. "You don't even have any right to speak the names of Itachi-sempai, Seina-san and Obito-san! You have even less right to speak the names of Sayo-sama and Madara-sama!"

Sasuke got to his feet, glaring at Rihan. "Why? Why are you so strong?" he roared. "Power like that…should belong to me!"

_That's right. They don't deserve such power._

Both Sayo and Itachi stiffened. Sayo narrowed her eyes as she could sense dark malice leaking from Sasuke… Dark power…

"What is this feeling?" Itachi whispered.

"Oh gods… No…" Sayo muttered, running her fingers through her hair. "It's _him…"_

'_It's still too early! Why has __**he**__ been awakened so soon?'_ Sayo moaned, recalling the conversation that she had with Seina and Madara after she was done with her investigation on Raven's Gate during the chuunin exams.

* * *

"_It's bad news, I'm afraid."_

_That was the first thing that Uchiha Sayo had said the moment that she'd stepped into the Tsukikage's office. Madara and Seina were looking at her, silently asking her to elaborate more on the issue._

_Sayo sighed, wondering where to start from before deciding that the starting is always the best place. "I went to the site of the sealing," she told them. "The place where I'd sealed Hiore years ago." She added. "The seal has broken." Sayo told them grimly, much to their shock and horror. "And from the looks of things, it has broken nearly a decade ago."_

"_Whaaaaat?"_

"_Damn it!" Madara cursed. "We're too late!"_

"_How did the seal break?" Seina demanded._

"_Back then, when I'd sealed Hiore, I used a seal that robs him of his original body." Sayo explained. "He's an Onmyou after all. I know that the seal won't hold him for eternity. That's why I used a seal like that. So that when the time comes when he is strong enough to break out of the seal, he will never regain his original strength. This at least gives us a fighting chance. And from what I could find out, the seal broke __**twelve years ago."**_

_Madara froze. "Twelve years ago?" he repeated. "You can't mean…" He paled._

"_The Kyuubi attack." Seina whispered in horror._

_Sayo nodded grimly. "Yeah. The Kyuubi attack," she answered. "When Raven's Gate ripped the Kyuubi out of Uzumaki Kushina, I think it serves two purposes." She put up two fingers. "One, it enables them to attack Konoha which they have never been fond of in the first place. The second, it allows them to free their leader."_

"_What do you mean? What does the Kyuubi attack have to do with freeing Hiore?" Madara frowned._

"_They used a ritual. A special ritual to further weaken the seal and to restore Hiore's strength. A ritual that could only be used on those with demon blood and magic in their veins." Sayo said grimly. "Strength of the mother. Blood of the innocent."_

"_Oh God…" Seina groaned, finally understanding what Sayo is getting at. "Revive and Resurrect."_

"_Bingo." Sayo nodded. "Hiore is Kyuubi's kin after all. But because Hiore no longer has a body, there is only one way for him to continue existing in this plane. He needs a host. A human host. A body. A container. His plan to fully resurrect by using the Kyuubi attack failed, as I interfered. But I didn't anticipate the Kyuubi attack being a two way plan. If the ritual failed, then he has to fall back on his other plan." Sayo looked furious with herself. "I got careless." She admitted._

"_What do you mean?" Seina asked with concern._

"_The second plan is for Hiore to reside and sleep in another soul until the time comes. He has been severely weakened after all. He needs time to gather his strength. And you know that he has never been fond of the Uchiha clan, especially after what I and Madara have done to him. And it is also me who had forced the Kyuubi back into Makai. He will want revenge on us, on the Uchiha clan. Thus, he chose to reside in the soul of the most vulnerable Uchiha child in the village at that time. A child that has no resistance whatsoever against mental attacks of that sort. And once Hiore fully awakens… The soul of his original host will disappear."_

_Madara paled, finally getting what Sayo is driving at. "Sayo, you can't mean…!" He paled further. Seina looks ready to faint. "Oh my god…! If that's true, then…!" He gulped. "Hiore's soul is now resting in…" He trailed off uneasily._

_Sayo nodded grimly. "…Uchiha Sasuke."_

* * *

"W-What is this?" Sasuke's eyes were wide with fear, both hands pressing against the sides of his head. It almost felt like his head was about to split apart. "There's…a voice in my head…!"

_How about killing them?_

"S-Shut up!"

_You don't like to be used, right? You want power, right? Power greater than anything else. I can grant you that wish._

"This is bad…" Sayo muttered. "Itachi, come!"

Both Uchihas then leapt down on either side of Rihan, much to his surprise. "S-Sayo-sama? Itachi-sempai?"

"Back away, Rihan!" Sayo ordered, even as a malice aura starting surrounding the area. "Oh my god… This is like back then…!"

_Everyone wants you._

"Be…quiet…!" Sasuke growled.

_What is your wish, young Uchiha? I can grant it. Say it. What is your wish? What is it that you desire? Wish for it, young Uchiha._

"I…wish for power…! More and more power…! I want power enough to kill my brother…! I will step above everyone! No one will look down on me!"

"Sasuke! _No!" _Itachi screamed, taking one step forward, but was held back by Sayo.

_Then say it. Say my name. Call for me. My name is…_

"Hi…ore…" Sasuke whispered.

The moment that the word passed Sasuke's lips, his body was immediately engulfed in a mist of black, and malice chakra immediately surrounded the Valley of the End, along with a loud anguished scream from Sasuke that caused even the hairs on Sayo's arm to stand.

"Oh god… No…!" Itachi watched with horror.

Almost as soon as it had begun, the black mist died away, and in where Sasuke was standing in before was now a young man who looks to be about nineteen or so with chin-length black hair. He still has a look of Sasuke around him, but it is pretty obvious that they aren't the same person.

"Damn it…" Sayo narrowed her eyes. "We couldn't stop it…!"

Toshigaki Hiore smirked at Sayo. "Long time no see, Uchiha Sayo," he growled out.

"Toshigaki Hiore." Sayo muttered. "Long time no see."

"Eighty years from this day." Hiore smirked. "Like what I'd told you back then, I shall rebuild this rotten world. I shall become king of this world!"

"Not if I can help it!" Itachi snarled, but was held back by Sayo.

"Don't make me laugh." Hiore scoffed. "You're a hundred years too early to be fighting me, _boy._ Three years. Three years from now, it shall all begin. Whether you can beat me or not… We shall see."

He then vanished.

Sayo narrowed her eyes. "We're going back," she said immediately, and both Rihan and Itachi nodded. "This means trouble above anything than we've ever encountered before. Madara has to know this." She then paused in her step as she saw three Leaf jounins behind her. And from the looks of things, they saw everything that had just happened.

"W-What was that back there?" Kaiga Shikamaru stuttered.

Sayo narrowed her eyes. _'Leaf-nins.' _She turnef towards Rihan and Itachi. "Let's go."

"Wait!" The pink haired woman in their midst called to Sayo. _"Sayo! _You're Sayo, aren't you?" Sakura pleaded with Sayo. "Don't you remember us? Sayo!"

Sayo scowled. "I have no idea who you are," she said coldly, and Sakura flinched as if she'd just been slapped. "You are from the _Leaf."_ She said. "You are the _enemy."_


	35. As Daylight Dies

**Pairings:** Madara/Sayo. Slight Rihan/Hinata.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Five: As Daylight Dies**

Uchiha Madara groaned as he listened to what both his wife and somewhat student have to tell him. He resisted the urge to just slam his head down on his desk. Back during the days of his youth, his father had repeatedly drilled lessons of etiquette, code and conduct into his and his brother's heads.

He _so_ wanted to retire and not face this!

Sayo looked a tad bit apologetic as she faced her husband. In a corner, Seina looked to be barely restraining her giggles. Even when they're young, they've never seen Madara like this before. He had always remained composed and solemn; unless one counts the time with Senju Hashirama when said Senju is after his girl. And then again, Uchiha Madara is solemn and composed until you drag in one Senju Hashirama in the picture.

"Sorry. I should probably make sure that the Leaf-nins didn't witness it in the first place." Sayo looked both apologetic and sheepish all at once. "But then again, I didn't really notice them."

Seina sighed. "Well, with that brat acting up, who could blame you?"

The retrieval mission involving Uchiha Sasuke had been two days ago, and the aftermath of the mission is beyond horrible. The possession involving the 'Last Uchiha' had spread like wildfire in Konoha, and from what Sayo had heard from her spies, apparently, the imaginations of the Konoha inhabitants were particularly imaginative.

Madara had already received a letter from the Hokage, requesting (more like _beg) _for someone to head down and clear the mess up. Apparently, there is a huge uproar in Konoha, particularly from the civilians and the civilian side of the council. And if what Madara had heard from Rihan, Kyo and Haku is true, and that the brat had a fan club comparable in size to the one that Itachi had in Tsuki, then even the civilians in the streets were kicking up a huge fuss.

Personally, Madara would rather ignore them, since Konoha is not exactly on his favourites' list, but the honourable part of him refuses to let him just turn a blind eye. Granted, the whole reason why he is so pissed at Konoha for the better part of nearly fifty years is in part tied to the reason why he had even taken his wife away from the village in the first place.

The rumours in Konoha circulating around one Uchiha Sasuke is getting out of control, and the rational part of him knew that he can't just ignore it. Madara looked at both Sayo and Seina, and the two women sighed, immediately knowing what Madara had in mind. "Back to Konoha we go." Sayo muttered irritably. "But if the council that they had tries to do anything funny, I won't be held responsible for my actions." She warned.

"I highly doubt that they will try anything. Last that I'd heard, the Hokage is beyond pissed with them. Particularly because of all their pampering with Uchiha Sasuke, it leads to the situation in which a _genin_ actually had enough power to defect the village, and almost succeeded in killing his teammate, and is indirectly the cause of the near deaths of five other prominent clan heirs if we and Suna hadn't sent reinforcements." Madara told them. "Uchiha Sasuke's jounin instructor is in hot soup too, from what I'd heard."

All the ninjas in the room could understand that. In a ninja village, a genin is never meant to be powerful enough to be able to defect from the village that he had sworn fealty to. And neither is a genin meant to be powerful enough to almost kill his teammate and his comrades. Granted, in Uchiha Sasuke's case, it's _because_ his teammate and his comrades were sent after him to bring him back that leads to the case of him almost killing them, but still…

Even Itachi and Orochimaru have never held enough power to defect or commit any crimes punishable by death when they were still genin. Itachi had been an ANBU captain, and Orochimaru a high ranked jounin—holding the title of 'Sannin', when they have both defected.

In most cases concerning the ninja villages, if a genin holds enough power to commit a crime punishable by death—which rarely, if never happens at all—the one held at fault is usually the jounin instructor. As a genin's growth and progress and even actions is held liable by the jounin instructor in question, if a genin ever grows powerful enough to defect, the jounin instructor will be held responsible for his actions.

"Well, we might as well just get all the questions concerning Tsuki done and over with in one go." Seina sighed. "I swear… After the fiasco at the chuunin exams, we have more spies entering our lands for the past month than we ever had in a year!"

"Tell me about it." Sayo rubbed her temples to ease her headache. "Shin had been swamped with work at the T&I ever since the end of the chuunin exams because of all the potential spies that kept trying to enter Tsuki, and Kano is getting run ragged with his spies and informants as well. Those infiltrators never did leave with any information, but you get what I mean."

Madara groaned. "Anything else?" he asked wearily, eyeing the number of files and folders on his desk, waiting for him to go through.

"Yeah." Sayo said, immediately remembering what she needs to tell her best friend and her husband. "When Sasuke first defected, he took a sword with him." She said slowly, looking from face to face. "Izuna's sword." Seina's face paled and Madara frowned. "Harusame."

"And _now_ with Hiore taking possession of Sasuke's body, that means that Raven's Gate have their dirty paws on Izuna's sword." Madara groaned, wondering if things could get any worse. "Harusame is an Uchiha blade after all, and Sasuke is directly descended from Izuna's line. That means that his body can wield the sword to its full potential. This isn't good news for us. Harusame isn't any ordinary sword. It had abilities that most swordsmen in the world can only dream of."

Sayo sighed. "I'll send word out to all my informants. But meanwhile, Seina and I have to head to Konoha," she said briskly.

"Oh right. Hold on, Sayo." Madara said, and started writing something in a scroll before he rolled it up and sealed it with his Tsukikage seal. He then handed it to Sayo. "It's about Itachi's missing-nin status in the land of Fire. I want you to explain the situation to the Hokage and get him to remove Itachi's missing-nin status from their register. I've already cleared the situation with the daimyo of Fire, and he had already okayed it."

His wife doesn't look pleased. "If I have to spend an entire day arguing with those idiots that have the audacity to call themselves a council in Konoha because of this, then you're sleeping on the couch for a month once we get back." Sayo threatened, and Madara paled at the threat. "Come on, Seina!"

Seina giggled. "Coming!"

**XXXXXX**

Uchiha Seina is normally a very patient person.

She has to be, after putting up with the antics of both Madara and Izuna when they're young, even before Sayo had shown up. But now as she watched the room of shinobis yelling over each other in order to get themselves heard, she wondered if her brother-in-law would mind terribly if she committed genocide here and there.

It had taken two days for Sayo and Seina to arrive at Konoha. And the moment that they did, they were ushered straight to the Hokage's office, with the Hokage in mention waiting for them. Apparently, Madara had sent word ahead to Konoha, informing the Hokage of their arrivals.

And thankfully, at the very least, the blonde Hokage had enough sense to not summon the council to address this whole issue regarding Uchiha Sasuke. Instead, the only ones currently in the Hokage's office are just the Hokage himself, his wife, the Sannins Jiraiya and Tsunade, councilman Shimura Danzo, Katou Dan and Hatake Sakumo.

Sayo who was currently leaning against the door, keeping it shut with her weight, rolled her eyes in annoyance. Normally, she is the one dealing with politics, but when it comes to Konoha, she has completely no desire or any patience to deal with them. Hence why Seina is the one handling Konoha in place of Sayo.

Seina cleared her throat loudly, her right eye twitching dangerously, and the entire room went quiet immediately. "Thank you." Seina said politely, though with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "Now, is there anything else that you wish to know, or can we leave now?"

Minato exchanged looks with his wife. Everyone in Konoha knew of the feelings or lack of that Tsuki has towards Konoha. That is essentially proven during the latest chuunin exams. Tsuki doesn't hold Konoha in the greatest light, and to this day, even after the whole knowledge of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo being alive and well out in the open, no one knew just why Tsuki is so pissed off with Konoha.

"So… Uchiha Sasuke is really dead?" Dan asked warily, glancing at Sakumo. But apart from the muscles tightening in his neck, the White Fang showed no emotion on his face at all.

Seina sighed. "Yes. Dead from possession," she said curtly. "It has _nothing _to do with Tsuki whatsoever, so I'll deeply appreciate it if you could let your council know, and to stop bombarding Madara with threatening letters and messenger birds. The bird carers are all up to their necks in work just caring for Tsuki's own hawk messengers. We have neither the time nor room to care for your worn out birds too."

Seina might say that, but the truth is that no one in Tsuki—ninja or civilian, will ignore a tired bird messenger. And because of all the tired birds bombarding Tsuki of late, the Academy students have taken turns to care for the tired birds until they could regain enough of their strength to make their way back home.

"And just so you know, I won't be held responsible if Madara finally snaps." Seina said sternly. "He has been pretty patient with Konoha already. If you push him over his limit, then Madara will be declaring war on Konoha the next morning."

Minato blinked, the news that the council has been going behind his back to 'threaten' the Tsukikage new to him. He scowled inwardly. Seems like certain members of the council is simply 'asking' for a beating.

Meanwhile, Danzo was studying Seina and Sayo carefully.

Only a select few in Konoha—those still amongst the living at least—actually knew that he was actually trained by Uchiha Sayo in his youth, and everything that he knew about war and war tactics, he learned directly from the _best_ tactician in the world. Even the deceased Nidaime Hokage actually learned a fair bit about war tactics and such from his old friend. Hence why the Nidaime Hokage was said to be a master manipulator. If he wanted to know some information, you can bet that he'll find some way to get said information. And if he wants something hidden, you can dig up the entire world, but you'll never find it.

Danzo knew his teacher well. He knew that everything that Uchiha Sayo does, there is a reason behind it—sometimes _several_ reasons. And the fact that she is _here,_ in Konoha itself, could mean one of several things.

"My apologies for that." Minato said sincerely. "Rest assured that I'd put a stop to it."

"See that you do." Seina said tiredly. "I swear, if I have to hear one more complaint from Madara about some bird bombarding him _again,_ I'll throw him out of the window. Head first."

The Konoha ninjas have no idea if Seina is joking or not. Kushina then cleared her throat politely, and Seina glanced at the redhead. "Seina-san, right?" Kushina asked politely, and Seina nodded. "So this…Toshigaki Hiore? And Raven's Gate? Could you tell us more about it? After all, they might be a fearsome threat in the future."

Sayo let out a short bark of laughter from behind Seina, and everyone in the room turned their attention towards her. After all, ever since their arrivals, Sayo had not said a single word to any Konoha ninja, and even barely acknowledged their presences save for a slight nod of the head.

"Future? They already _are_ a fearsome threat." Sayo said curtly. She looked at Minato and Kushina in the eye, and the two were almost entranced by the redhead's dark blue eyes that seemed almost like the waters of the deep oceans. "You should have already met a member of that accursed organisation twelve years ago."

Minato's eyes widened. "They Kyuubi attack…" he muttered, and Sayo nodded. "Then that masked man, he is…"

"A member of Raven's Gate. Though whether he is one of the Inner Circle or not, I cannot say." Sayo stated. "All I can tell you at present is that Raven's Gate had been around for a long time. Longer even before _any_ of us are even born." Only Jiraiya and Danzo caught the true meaning of Sayo's words, and their eyes widened a slight fraction. "And they have this connection with the nine bijuus and demons that even we don't understand."

"Bijuu?" Kushina's face paled. "Then the Kyuubi attack… Jinchuurikis…"

Seina nodded. "We don't fully understand their motives yet. We've been working for _years_ to prevent that organisation from raising their lord. Now because of you, we have failed." She told them sharply, and several of them recoiled.

"What do you know about them?" Sakumo asked at last. "Anything that you know, can you please tell us? If so that we could be prepared for them once the time comes."

Sayo muttered something irritable beneath her breath. "I probably shouldn't even tell you because of the relations or lack thereof, between both our villages," she stated bluntly, and Minato flinched. "But Raven's Gate isn't an opponent that we could handle on our own. And I'm not inhumane enough to ignore it as innocent children dies because of an insane man who had twisted ideals for the world, and the ways that he would go about to achieve it."

"Who is he? This Toshigaki Hiore." Tsunade asked quietly.

"He had appeared several times in history, along with Raven's Gate. Once directly under the control of the Fire daimyo's court, they now answer to no one but their lord." Seina told them.

"Who is he?" Minato asked worriedly. The way that the two were speaking, it is almost like Raven's Gate and Toshigaki Hiore are some sort of demons. Then again, if they have some sort of involvement with the bijuus…

Seina and Sayo exchanged looks. "He goes by many names. Prominent ones, in fact, throughout history." Sayo said at last. "He is onmyouji. Exorcist. Ninja. Warrior. Samurai. He is known as Takeda Shingen, Mitsuhide Akechi, Masamune Date, Hattori Hanzo, Sanada Masayuki, Kirigakure Saizo and even Abe no Seimei. He walks through the dawn of time, and have seen the changes throughout the centuries."

The eyes of every single ninja in the room widened in shock, even Seina. Any ninja worth their weight in salt will have heard of those names. Those names are prominent samurai and ninja names in history, and are the names of the men who are responsible for shaping the world that they are now. And the name of Abe no Seimei is relatively well known. He is a famous onmyouji that is alive around the time of the shinobi clan wars when demons and spirits wander around freely. But like with the prominent samurais and ninjas that Sayo had mentioned, Abe no Seimei vanished without a trace one day, and no one knew why.

"Just how old is this guy? And who is he?" Jiraiya demanded, feeling true fear for the first time in his life.

Sayo was silent for a long time before she spoke again. "Those of you who have been around during the age of the founding of the ninja villages should have heard whispers of his tale," she said, looking at Jiraiya, Tsunade, Danzo and even Dan. "He is never mentioned by name, but tales of his legend is known in every corner of the world, even the civilians and the samurai. _'In the flickering light when it is not yet nightfall, the boss of monsters visits with a __**Nurarihyon.**__ A monster who at the end of the year suddenly appears out of nowhere.'" _She recited.

"Oh god…" Kushina's breath caught in her throat. She had heard of this phrase once from her mother as a girl. The demon of all demons. The most fearsome demon that had ever walked the world. _"The boss of the demons _– the youkai and the ayakashi." The redhead woman whispered in fear. The _demon_ that the Tsuki-nin across her is talking about is spoken only in legends and in scrolls pertaining towards demons and spirits. To the civilians and most ninjas, he is only a legend. But to people practicing the seal arts, and even exorcists and onmyoujis, he is very much real. "The Lord All High, the boss of the spiritual and demon world. When he calls, they come. He has _them _under his command. The…" She looked at Uchiha Sayo who nodded grimly before the same word passed from their lips.

"…_Hyakki Yagyo."_ Both Kushina and Sayo stated at the same time. "The Demon Parade."

* * *

"Is that wise? Telling them about that?" Seina asked Sayo quietly two hours later as they sat in a teahouse, having a meal of dango and green tea to replenish their strength to make the route home.

Namikaze Minato had immediately called for an emergency council meeting after hearing the story from Sayo. And both women knew that at this time tomorrow, probably, the entire world will know of it, or maybe just the ninja villages themselves.

"We can't keep it under wraps forever." Sayo shrugged as they finished their dango, and both stood up as one, leaving the teahouse. "Besides, I didn't tell them _everything,_ did I? Furthermore, it is better for us if they are warned in advance, then be caught unprepared. I doubt that anyone even realises that Raven's Gate has something to do with the demon world. Though knowing Hiore, should we really be surprised?" She snorted.

Seina sighed, and was about to say something when she paused, staring at the bandaged man standing outside the teahouse.

Sayo muttered something beneath her breath. "…Danzo."

"Sensei." Shimura Danzo inclined his head towards Sayo.

"Let's change locations." Seina told Sayo and Danzo both, knowing from both their tones that the following conversation shouldn't be something that anyone should hear. "This way."

The trio then walked through the marketplace of Konoha until they came across an empty training ground with three training posts in the middle of it. There was even the memorial stone of Konoha near the training ground. Danzo watched silently as Sayo took Seina by the arm gently, walking up to the memorial stone. The redhead then knelt down before it, tracing one of the names on the stone.

"Haru, I'm back." Sayo said softly, tracing the name 'Uchiha Haruki' with her fingertips. She glanced at Seina who seemed to be doing her own prayers. "This is the first time that you've came here, right?"

Seina nodded. "During the chuunin exams, foreigners were watched closely by the ANBU, thus, I could not just wander around." She knelt down before the memorial stone, eyes tracing the name of her son. "Hey baby." Seina said softly, tracing the name of her son with her fingertips. "I wonder what you were like as a child, then a teenager, and then an adult? I've missed all those amazing years of your life. Your first steps. Your first words. The first time you held a kunai. The first time you mastered a jutsu. Your first crush. Your wedding. The birth of your first child. When you married off your _own_ child. I missed all of that." Seina felt tears pooling around her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away. "I've never gotten to know you personally, but Sayo and Madara have told me enough stories and have also shown me enough pictures of you when you were growing up until it makes me feel almost like I could know you. You sound like a wonderful person. I'm proud of you. I only regret…that I couldn't get to truly know you." She looked at her son's name on the memorial stone sadly.

"He's a great person. Haru-sempai, that is." Danzo spoke up, approaching the two women. "After sensei and Madara-sama left the village, Haru-sempai took over the role as guardian, teacher and protector for myself, Jiraiya and Orochimaru. And when he had passed away during the war, I took over that role myself for Orochimaru, as at that time, Jiraiya had found a confidante and friend in Katou Dan."

"You seem to be doing well." Sayo got to her feet, turning around and facing Danzo. Seina followed suit.

"Hai sensei." Danzo inclined his head respectfully towards his teacher – the way that he always did as a child.

"Sayo, we can't stay long." Seina reminded Sayo.

"I know." Sayo nodded. She then turned towards Danzo. "What I'm going to tell you here, you _mustn't _repeat it to anyone, _especially_ the Hokage. What you have to do, do it at your own discretion." Danzo nodded. He had suspected as much that his sensei had been withholding _some _information back in the Hokage's office, hence why he had gone looking for her. "The tale about Raven's Gate and that they're seeking the bijuus _is_ true. The reason why however, we're not sure. We think that it might have something to do with the original tailed beast, the Juubi."

"The Juubi…" Danzo murmured. As Sayo's student, even he had some knowledge over seals. And at some point, he had heard of the story of the original tailed beast from his sensei in his youth. These days however, the Juubi is all but a myth to the vast population of the elemental nations.

"And this Toshigaki Hiore, the boss of Raven's Gate…" Sayo looked at her student in the eye. Danzo suddenly had a feeling that he wouldn't like what Sayo is going to tell him. "It is true that he is the boss of Raven's Gate, and it is also true that he took over Uchiha Sasuke's body in order to exist in the mortal plane once more. Hence, I hadn't lied to your Hokage or any of the other Leaf-nins. I only chose to withheld one piece of information about him." Sayo paused for a moment. "Danzo, this information does not make its way to the Hokage, Jiraiya, the general public or _anyone else._ Is that clear?" Sayo said sternly, and Danzo nodded. "The Kyuubi attack twelve years ago in this village is half of the plan that Raven's Gate had to revive Toshigaki Hiore. The ritual used is _'strength of the mother, blood of the innocent'._ In other words, _Revive and Resurrect."_

Danzo's face paled immediately. "Oh my god…" he murmured. He understood immediately what his sensei is trying to tell him. Kyuubi is the _mother_ of the boss of the Raven's Gate organisation. In other words, he has the blood of a bijuu – one of the most powerful demons in the world flowing through his veins. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Whether we like it or not, we're going to be in for the battle of our lives once the time comes." Sayo told Danzo. "What I want you to do is to send your spies out to every corner of the world that you could reach. No matter whether it is, be it in a remote village out in the middle of nowhere or even in the middle of some marshlands, or even the desert itself. Wherever they can reach, they go. Tsuki and Ame are doing the same as well. Because I know Raven's Gate, and I know Hiore. They won't resort to conventional methods. They will use methods and ways of planning that no one will expect in the least."

"And that's where Sayo will come in." Seina added. "I hadn't seen anyone manage to get the better of her yet. And from what I'd heard, Raven's Gate is bound to be enough of a match for her."

Sayo sighed, but chose to say nothing to Seina's comment. "Because Hiore had just taken possession of Sasuke's body, we still have time. He needs time to get adjusted to his new body, and truly make it his in every meaning of the word."

"Then that Uchiha is really…" Danzo trailed off, and Sayo nodded. "I'm sorry, sensei. I couldn't protect your clan."

"Don't worry about it. Even if the daimyo hadn't sent Itachi to eliminate his entire clan, I would probably do the same thing myself sooner or later, if what I'd heard about the clan is true." Sayo sighed. "Hideki-sama would be turning in his grave if he knew just how low that the clan had fallen. And so would Haru and Izuna." She muttered.

Danzo nodded slowly, and even Seina looks as if she is hanging onto every single one of Sayo's words. "So we wait?" Danzo asked, not really liking the idea. He is more of the type to strike first, rather than wait.

"Yes. We wait." Sayo nodded. "We still have time. Like I've said, Hiore needs time to get adjusted to his new body, and to also regain his strength. Our brief stint with him at the Valley of the End had shown me enough. He has been severely weakened. And if I know him, he will hide himself and his Inner Circle in a place that even _I_ can't find. Thus, we have to wait. He will bide his time. And that also gives us enough time to be ready for him."

"How long?" Danzo asked, going over several scenarios and possible plans that he had in mind, and wondering if any of them would even work. After all, he had been there at the 'Bloody Crusade' – the civil war that had broken out between Raven's Gate and the land of Fire at the time of Konoha's founding. He knew how terrible that civil war had been, and what Raven's Gate is capable of.

"Three years." Sayo said grimly. "Three years from now, everything will begin. Three years from now, a war will break out. And this war…will also be the last."

"The last?" Danzo managed to ask, not having heard his sensei sound like that before.

Sayo nodded. "Because this war will be so long, so dangerous and so bloody that each and every nation out there will quite possibly lose an entire generation of men and women, and will also be so weakened to the point that not a single one of them would be able to wage another war for _decades,_ if not generations," she said. "And mark my words, Danzo. Whether for the better or for the worse, this war will be the one that will change the world."


	36. Three Years Later

Okay, I'm going to tend to some complaints here that I've been receiving for the past six months. The first is regarding my grammar or lack thereof. I have no idea why so many people have been complaining about it of late when they never had a problem with it before in the past. Like what I've mentioned in several of my other stories I'm sure, my grammar had always been a problem that had been plaguing me for as long as I remember. And before you urge me to just simply engage a beta reader, my answer to that suggestion is no.

Let's just say that my track record with beta readers isn't exactly pleasant, since the first one that I've engaged all but fell off the face of the earth after a month. And as for the second, well, let's just say that I'm far from pleased when he/she took my 'edited' stories and used it as their own. All that happened a year or two ago, so I'm sure that you understand why I have such an aversion towards beta readers.

Secondly, I don't think that my story (language wise) is so bad that it is completely unreadable. I've read a few stories which uses of tenses and even language is worse than mine, and I still find myself reading it as the story is interesting.

And now, onto the questions that reviewers had. About the reason why Sayo forbids Danzo to tell Minato and the rest what _she_ had told him, and why she had omitted a few details about Raven's Gate on purpose – more specifically the fact that Hiore is Kyuubi's kid. It has nothing to do with Sayo and Madara still bearing a grudge towards Konoha. True, they're still pissed with them, but they are still professional ninjas. They know how to keep their work and personal life separate. The reason why Sayo had specifically left out the detail of Hiore being Kyuubi's kid is to prevent a full-scale panic.

Think about it. During the time of the shinobi clan wars, demons and ayakashis and even spirits are a common thing, as are exorcists, shamans and onmyoujis. Hence, Sayo and Madara and even Seina are used to the knowledge of demons. Back then, there are demons that mingle with humans and have half-demon children. But in the current era where everyone – ninja and civilian, treats anything remotely demonic as the product of Satan, especially Konoha who particularly has an aversion towards anything Kyuubi related, do you honestly think that the people wouldn't panic if it is ever revealed that Hiore is Kyuubi's kid? The issue with Sasuke is already bad enough. If this particular information ever gets out, Konoha wouldn't be standing.

Lastly, a reviewer had asked me whether some elements of this story is inspired from Fairy Tail. Let me make things clear. I never even watched or read the anime/manga up until a week ago when my friend basically all but shoved his entire collection of Fairy Tail DVDs into my hands and all but forced me to watch it. Hence, Kyo's power and all that are just figments of my imagination, and is in no way related to Fairy Tail. But after watching Fairy Tail, I got more new ideas coming my way for this story.

**Pairings:** Madara/Sayo. Slight Rihan/Hinata.

**Warnings: **Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Six: Three Years Later…**

The desert winds and even landscape of the Wind Country had always been harsh and unforgiving, even to the people who had lived here all their lives. Hence, the ninjas of Wind Country had always endured harsh elements of nature when undergoing their training.

In some part of the vast desert that stretched as far as the eye could see, a group of ninjas wearing the hitai-ates of Tsukigakure no sato could be seen combating a group of black monster-like creatures, ignoring the harsh desert wind that is blowing into their faces.

Yukina Haku skidded backwards, and ducked to avoid having her head cleaved off by one of the demons' scythe-like arms. A sword went through its chest just then before it collapsed to the ground, unmoving, revealing Sasaki Rihan who is standing behind it, his White Dragon out and currently clasped in his right hand.

Somewhere to the left, Tatsuyama Kyo was hurling around projectiles that nailed every single demon in the middle of its forehead whilst also calling upon his spirit summons. Momochi Zabuza meanwhile was swinging his sword around dangerously. With every swing, one demon went down. Uchiha Seina and Uchiha Sayo were standing back to back, hurling jutsu after jutsu.

It had nearly been three years since it was revealed to the world that the Raven's Gate organisation is back. And since then, there have been demon attacks happening periodically. It is only of late when it started happening a lot more often. And those demons aren't at all like the ones that Sayo, Seina and Madara have been used to seeing back during the time of the shinobi clan wars.

This time around, the demons have near zero intelligence, and seemed to move on instinct alone, with their only motive to kill and kill. They are simply nothing more than beasts – not unlike the ones that the ninjas tend to hunt down from time to time.

"Damn it, you've got to be kidding me!" Sasaki Rihan panted, wiping some sweat off his brow, his arms trembling slightly. The newly promoted jounin was obviously exhausted, and honestly, who could blame him? "Is there no end to this?"

"We kill and kill, but more always takes its place after that!" Yukina Haku complained, freezing another two demons.

In the three years that had followed after the Raven's Gate fiasco, the team that comprises of Sasaki Rihan, Tatsuyama Kyo and Yukina Haku have gotten themselves promoted to jounin just a few short months ago when they'd attended the jounin exams held at Sunagakure.

Zabuza couldn't have been prouder of his team, and he couldn't resist bragging to his fellow Tsuki jounins that his team is going to take the world by storm, and possibly be the best ninjas of their generation.

With Tsuki's attendance at the last jounin exams held by Suna, Sunagakure was also quick to approach them for a possible alliance. The new Godaime Kazekage surprisingly turns out to be Sabaku no Gaara. The once homicidal teen had changed a lot ever since his seal had been fixed, calming down a lot more and had even taken the whole 'caring for others' thing to heart. And now, after three years, the entire village of Sunagakure adores their Kazekage, and if the rumour mill is to be believed, he had quite the fan club to his name.

At the time when Gaara as the Kazekage had approached Tsuki with a request for an alliance, the Tsuki delegate sent by the village had surprisingly been Uchiha Sayo, and she was more than willing to listen to what the teen had to say.

It had taken three months, but in the end, both sides were happy with the alliance agreement that was drawn up. It is basically similar to the one that both Ame and Tsuki had shared. Suna and Tsuki would both be exchanging techniques with each other, and their ninjas would also be often sent on joint missions together. And like what was also done for Ame, Sayo had even donated a highly complex seal to Suna that will allow them to hide their village from prying eyes.

And just like how Tsuki ninjas with wind affinities and superb chakra control were sent to Suna for training in wind techniques and the usage of chakra threads, several selected Suna ninjas were also sent to Tsuki for training in medic ninjutsu and seal training.

The sharing of techniques and joint missions had ensured that the alliance lasts, as both parties stand to benefit from it. And with Suna's military strength increasing as a result, they were never at a shortage of jobs as is the case from three years ago.

Tsuki however stubbornly refuses to have an alliance with Konoha, despite allying themselves with Suna. They had even stated that while they would agree to work with Konoha on missions occasionally, and _maybe_ they would even help Konoha at times, they would _never_ agree to ally themselves with a village that had half their population with heads screwed on backwards, and even treat all things remotely demonic and different as the product of Satan.

"Over there! They're over there!"

Right on cue, two Konoha teams showed up, being led by Sabaku no Temari. Sayo paid them no mind as she slashed another demon to ribbons with a no-seals wind jutsu. How many does this make now?

Right on cue, dark seal portals appeared on the sandy dunes, and another group of demons appeared, though larger and more menacing looking than the previous ones. Zabuza almost groaned.

"You can't be serious!" he groaned.

"Sayo! Some help please!" Seina complained, the exhaustion obvious in her form even as she threw another kunai at an approaching demon.

"Dear me. There's no helping it." Sayo sighed, raising two fingers to just in front of her face, eyes flickering from left to right at the number of demons that now surrounded them. "I bow to thee and beseech you…" A dark crimson sealing pattern immediately appeared beneath her feet. "The Twelve Gods that protect me. Appear before me! Come out! _Suzaku!"_

With a loud roar and a sudden strong wind that caused all present to focus chakra to their feet so that they wouldn't get swept off, a large vermillion bird appeared with a loud cry, breathing out a stream of fire that is as hot as it is powerful, hereby killing all of the assembled demons in one go.

"Well, that's it then." Sayo sighed as she dismissed Suzaku, exchanging looks with Seina who nodded.

"A spirit summoner?" Inuzuka Kiba cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Is she like Tatsuyama?" He recalled what Kyo had done in his match during the chuunin exams held at Konoha three years ago.

"Well, something like that." Seina who was near the two Konoha teams glanced at the Inuzuka.

"My spirit contracts are given to me by Sayo-sama." Kyo told Kiba. "Hence, our contracts are different. My spirit summons are bonded to me. In other words, as long as I'm still alive, they can exist in this world. Once I die, they return to the spirit world."

"But Sayo's are bonded to her via spirit contracts." Seina added. "They enter our world via spirit gates. Hence why Sayo has to summon the Spirit Gate to get them here. But Kyo doesn't have to do that. Hence the name for people like Sayo – Spirit Contractors. They are pretty rare, and only someone highly skilled with seals can do something like this. In other words, a seals master."

"I know that I've mentioned this before, but seals really can do anything, can't they?" Higurashi Tenten muttered.

"But it looks like we weren't needed in the end." Maito Gai stated, glancing at the numerous dead demons scattered on the ground around them. "That's good."

"This is the fifth one this week alone. And the demon attacks are getting worse." Sayo sighed, walking over to the Konoha group with Seina and Zabuza behind her. "If we don't do something fast, this world is going to be overrun with demons soon."

**XXXXXX**

"I just don't get it. How is Hiore doing this?"

Two days later in Tsukigakure no sato itself, Uchiha Madara had called for a meeting with his wife, his sister-in-law and even his somewhat student, Uchiha Itachi. The recent demon attacks are happening more frequently as compared to three years ago. And it is the pattern of those attacks that is worrying Madara. It is like their attacks are completely random, as it wasn't just heavily populated towns that were targeted, but even areas that are almost completely devoid of humans. If they can't read the demons' attack pattern, then they can't predict their next target.

"Probably portal gates." Sayo said grimly, looking at the map spread over the table that had several crosses here and there that marked the areas that have been hit by demons. Some of the smaller civilian towns had been completely wiped out as a result of the demons. "Hiore has demon blood in his veins, and not just any demon blood, but that of Kyuubi."

"And Kyuubi is the leader of the night, with Hiore inheriting that title." Seina added.

"In other words, Hiore can open gate portals that will allow demons entry into our world." Madara sighed. Can this day get any worse? "But what is his plan? Does he want demons to run free in our world or something?"

"Only Hiore can answer that. And from what I've heard from Orochimaru, Raven's Gate is beginning their move." Sayo told the room grimly. "Not even I can read Hiore's attack pattern. But everything that he did…there is _always_ a reason behind it. Likewise, there must be a reason why he is creating portal gates everywhere. The question is what."

Itachi who had been extremely silent ever since the start of the meeting spoke up just then. "Could it be…that he's trying to weaken the boundaries between the human world and the demon world?" he suggested. "I mean, from what I know, the more demons there are in our world, the weaker the barrier that separates both our world will get. And if the demonic aura gets any stronger, probably, Hiore won't even need to open portal gates anymore. The demons on the other side can do it themselves."

"That's probably one of his goals. But whatever it is, _why_ is he doing this? That's what we want to know." Seina sighed. "And up till now, we still don't know who all the members of his Inner Circle are. We only know there's five of them. Well, four really if you count Hiore as one of the members."

"Hidan of the Jashin; Kakuzu of the Five Hearts; Sasori of the Red Sands…" Madara ticked them off on his fingers. "And if we include Hiore, that makes four. So who's the fifth?"

Sayo glanced at her husband. "Who knows?" she said mysteriously. The redhead then got to her feet. "Sorry, but I have to go. I have a training session with Kyo today."

"Oh right. The last of his seals are coming off, right?" Seina realised.

When Kyo had first became a chuunin three years ago, Sayo had begun training him herself. No one in the village had complained, as everyone knew that only Sayo could teach Kyo what he has to know in order to keep his abilities and powers in check.

"Yeah. I'll see you around." Sayo sighed as she left the office.

**XXXXXX**

"All right. This is it for today." Sayo stated as she faced a panting Kyo who is currently hunched over on his knees, sweat adorning his brow, with his training clothes already littered with tears.

When Sayo had first started training Kyo, Madara had set apart a special training ground for his usage that had seals inscribed into the very foundations of it just so that Kyo wouldn't damage the plant life too much with his abilities.

"I can go once more." Kyo insisted, straightening his body up.

"No. You need to rest your body too, and you've just been on a pretty tough mission two days ago to combat those demons at Wind Country." Sayo told Kyo sternly. "Besides…" She pointed towards the sky, and Kyo blinked before noticing that dusk is falling. "It's getting dark, and it is never a good thing to train in the dark."

Kyo was silent for a long while, and Sayo raised a brow. "Something wrong, Kyo?"

"Do you think…that we can win?" Kyo asked at last. "Against Raven's Gate."

Sayo was silent. "We won't know if we don't try, don't we?" she asked. "Listen to me, Kyo. No power or jutsu in this world can be classified as 'evil' or 'good'. It only depends on how the user uses it. You, Rihan and Haku… And even all the others in your generation… You might just be the ones…" Sayo managed a small smile as she wiped away a smudge of dirt on Kyo's cheek. "You might just be the ones to end this eternal conflict that we have known ever since our time. Your generation might just be the ones to change this world."

Kyo smiled. "Yeah!"

Sayo managed to smile back at him even as Kyo bowed to Sayo and left the training ground. _'He's just like how you have been in the past, Zeref. I wonder… If it is you, what would you have done?'_

* * *

"Madara, I have a question." Seina entered Madara's office. Her brother-in-law is currently reading a black covered book with his feet propped up on his desk, and she nearly sweat dropped. "Um… That isn't very elegant-looking."

"Who cares? No one will be coming in at this hour anyway. And I'll be leaving soon." Madara put his feet down on the ground. "What's up?"

"Hmm? Oh." Seina remembered what she'd come for. "I came across a strange name in our records when I was sorting it out. Who's Zeref?" She asked, and Madara froze.

The Tsukikage was silent for a long time, eyes resting on the two panelled photo frame on his desk. One part of the frame was a photo of him and Sayo. The second photo had him and Sayo with an unknown black haired man.

. "…Zeref. Tatsuyama Zeref." Madara said at last, an unknown emotion in his eyes. "The first Tatsuyama. He's our friend." He told Seina. "Me and Sayo. But he disappeared all of a sudden about fifty years ago."

"Who is he?"

Madara pondered for a moment on how to answer this question. The man had been important to both him and his wife, and even now, Madara still wonders if Zeref is still alive and out there somewhere still. "Sayo and I met Zeref not long after we'd left Konoha," he told Seina. "I was seriously injured after my battle with Senju Hashirama, and on the brink of death. At that time, it was Zeref who saved me."

"Is he some kind of healer?"

"Well, something like that." Madara managed a small smile. He fell silent once more, lost in his memories. "As the first Tatsuyama, he is remarkably powerful. Like me and Sayo, his name is known throughout the shinobi nations too. But not in a good way. Zeref is remarkably powerful. He can kill someone easily with just a snap of his fingers. And he can also heal someone, even snatching them back from the jaws of death if necessary. He is that powerful. I don't know where and how Sayo had met him. But when I'd woken up after my battle with Senju Hashirama, I then realised that nearly a week had passed since the battle, and that Zeref had saved me. It took me another month to even be able to get up from the bed. As a person, he is well liked. But he is pretty silent and not one with words."

"Rather like how you were before you'd met Sayo." Seina couldn't resist taking a jab at her brother-in-law.

"I guess so." Madara sighed. "When we'd first met him, everyone was scared of him. Mainly because of his abilities. I won't deny that even I was a tad bit wary of him. But Sayo was the only one who treated him like a normal person. And when we first started building Tsuki, he was the first person that Sayo had approached to come live in Tsuki. "Will you like to come with us?" That is probably what had earned Sayo a lifelong friend. For Zeref, Sayo is the first person who had treated him as a normal person, and isn't afraid of him. He'll rather die than betray her. Once someone had gained Zeref's loyalty and friendship, it is for life."

In fact, Madara had suspected back then that Zeref had probably loved his wife as more than a friend, but Zeref is still a man with honour, and he had never acted upon his feelings, unlike a certain someone whom he could name. About five years after they'd met Zeref, he had then met a young woman who is a remarkable healer, and both had gotten along really well, and they have then married not even a year after that. But after their first child was born, Zeref then vanished without so much as a word.

Zeref's wife had never said anything, but Madara suspected that probably, she knew why Zeref had disappeared. And probably… So did Sayo.

* * *

Sayo looked at the moon in the sky, with the stars shining like diamonds on black velvet.

For some reason, she suddenly felt very tired. Probably, living as long as she did would do that to someone. She knows that Seina is tired too, and probably, so did Madara. After all, Sayo had Madara, but whom else does Seina have apart from herself and Madara? Izuna is dead, and so is Haru.

Seina is probably lonely. Feeling almost like a stranger in the world that she is born in.

Just for a moment, Sayo wonders if Hiore did feel like she did. After all, the guy is older than even them. He had already been alive long before the age of the shinobi clan wars, and had seen the changes of time. Just how old is the guy exactly? Madara did suspect that probably, Hiore is already alive ever since the time of the Rikudo Sennin.

Kyo is progressing faster in his training than Sayo had anticipated, with his control improving by leaps and bounds. Probably, pretty soon, she can remove all the seals that she had placed on him when he was eight. Kyo is turning fifteen that summer. He is fast approaching adulthood. And out of all the members of the Tatsuyama clan, Kyo is the only one that is more alike Zeref than any other.

Sayo sighed. "Is this what you were talking about back then?" She then turned around and faced the black haired young man that is standing behind her when there isn't anyone else in the training ground awhile ago. "Zeref."

The man standing across from her looks to be about nineteen or twenty, with sleek and straight black hair that just reaches a little below his chin, with crimson red eyes. He is dressed in a black high collared shirt and black pants with boots on his feet instead of ninja sandals, and he even had a white sash wound around his shoulders.

It had been nearly fifty years since Sayo had last seen her old friend, but he still looks like he did when he'd first left the village. The official records had stated that Zeref is the first Tatsuyama, and that it is from him where the Tatsuyama bloodline had came from. But apart from that, nothing is known about him. At least, officially.

During the time when Madara was unconscious because of his injuries due to battling Senju Hashirama, Sayo and Zeref had talked. The man had talked about his past to Sayo, and the redhead could tell that he seems almost lonely.

He was originally a priest in a small village. One with purifying powers. In those days, people with Zeref's powers are often sought after because of all the trouble that the people have with demons and spirits. But after the village that Zeref is living in had accused his friend as a witch, and had burned her alive, he had snapped and killed them all. And even after that, his anger and hatred had overtaken him, and he had cursed at the gods even as he burned down the holy shrine.

Even as a ninja who had never placed much faith in things like that, Sayo knew that it is not a smart thing to do. And so it had been. Zeref had later told her that as punishment for destroying their shrine and cursing them, he was cursed by the gods, hence bearing the power of Life and Death as a result of the curse. And much like Sayo and Madara, he was cursed with the curse of Immortality.

That is the reason why he'd left after the birth of his son. He had told no one but his wife and Sayo his reasons before leaving. After all, sooner or later, people are going to realise that he can't truly age. His powers had already been feared enough at that time. If it is ever known that he can't die either, Sayo could only imagine the riots that would break out. Hence, to protect his friends and his family, Zeref had left. Sayo had suspected that probably, Zeref hadn't wanted to watch his wife and son die before him as well.

The worst thing that any parent could do is to watch their own child die before they do.

"Long time no see, Zeref." Sayo stated.

"Yeah." Zeref nodded to Sayo. "You hadn't changed a bit."

"The same to you." Sayo retorted, and Zeref smirked. "I kept my end of the bargain. It's time for you to fulfil yours."

"I know." Zeref sighed. "I've seen what has been happening. It's nearly time. But be careful. Hiore is no pushover. You should know this better than anyone else." He warned.

Both fell silent for several moments. "…Just tell me one thing." Sayo said at last. "Back then… Are you agreeing to this because of what had happened, or is it for something else?"

"…_Zeref…! Stop!"_

"_You can't save her!"_

"…_Stop…! Just stop…!"_

"…_I curse the heavens who had given me this hell… Someday, I shall have my revenge!"_

"…_Will you like to come with us?"_

Zeref closed his eyes briefly. "…I wonder," he murmured, before raising his head to look at Sayo once more. "But I will tell you one thing. I will never betray you. I just need you to trust me. No matter what happens… No matter what I have to do… I just need you to know this. Everything that I do… It is all for you. I swore a long time ago that I would never betray you. That's why… No matter what happens, I just want you to trust me."

"Like I always do." Sayo nodded. "I had never once doubted you, Zeref, and you know this. I trust you. More than anyone else. I will trust you with my life if necessary. I trust you to do what is right."

A strong wind picked up once more, causing Sayo to close her eyes. A whisper in the wind echoed in her ears just then, sounding suspiciously like Zeref's.

"…_Thank you…"_

When Sayo opened her eyes once more, she is standing alone in the training ground. The redhead sighed, and raised her head to look at the moon in the sky. How long has it been since she'd watched the moon like this?

"…_I just need you to trust me. Do you trust me, Sayo?"_

"_Of course I do. What are you going to do?"_

"_To do what I must do. The name of the man that you've mentioned… I've heard of it before…"_

"…_Do you have to leave?"_

"…_Yes. But I will be back someday. And until I do, I want you to promise me that you'll keep my family safe."_

"_I will."_

"…_Sayo, I just need you to trust me…"_

"You're as cruel as ever, aren't you?" Sayo whispered to herself. "…Zeref…"

**XXXXXX**

Just outside the borders of Tsuki no kuni, Uchiha Itachi who is just returning from a mission raised a kunai threateningly at the man standing across from him.

"What are you doing here?" Uchiha Itachi demanded.

Kakuzu smirked at Itachi. "I wonder why indeed," he said almost mockingly. "I've came here to offer you a place with us in the new world that Hiore is going to build."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "I refuse," he said immediately. "Instead, why don't you just die?"

Without warning, Itachi suddenly flew forward, his hands already quick to form some hand seals for a jutsu. Kakuzu didn't seem afraid and merely stood there unmoving. Before Itachi could finish the final seal for the jutsu however, Kakuzu spoke once more.

"Even if Raven's Gate will revive your kid brother for you?"

Itachi froze in his tracks, his eyes wide with shock and with a slight glimmer of hope.

"You want to see him again, don't you?" Kakuzu said snidely.

"You're lying." Itachi shook his head. "There is no way you can do that. You can't bring someone back from the dead."

"Oh, but we can." Kakuzu said in an almost bored tone. "There is nothing that Hiore can't do. How about it? If you'll give us inside information on Tsuki and what they're planning, at the end of it, we'll revive Uchiha Sasuke for you. Not a bad deal, isn't it?" He smirked at the tortured look on Itachi's face. "How about it? Don't you want to see him again?"

"I…"

Kakuzu sighed almost exaggeratedly. "I see that you need time to think this through," he said. "Very well. One week from now, meet me here at midnight. I await a favourable response, Uchiha Itachi." He then disappeared in a quick shunshin.

The kunai fell from Itachi's grasp and clattered to the ground. Is what they're saying true? They can bring back Sasuke? His baby brother? He can see him once more? Part of Itachi wants to dismiss Kakuzu and Raven's Gate. They are after all the enemy that probably, the entire world will take on sometime in the future. But another part of him wants to take Kakuzu's offer. More than anything, he wants to see Sasuke again. He wants to tell him the truth behind everything and seek his forgiveness.

"I…" Itachi closed his eyes. "What should I do?"


	37. Rie

**EDIT: Fixed some errors**

**Warnings:** AU Universe. Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Seven: Rie**

"_To be afraid of nothing is to be a fool. To stand up and face your terrors is to be truly brave." - Toshigaki Hiore_

**XXXXXX**

Toshigaki Hiore sat in his throne-like chair, reading a black tome of some sort, with it being written in a strange language that seems to be only decipherable to him. The stone ceremonial-like chamber that he is in was dark, with the only lights visible being the flame torches on the walls.

The leader of Raven's Gate said nothing for several moments before he closed the tome that he's reading. "People's hearts are truly weak, are they not, Zeref?" Hiore looked up only to see the first Tatsuyama almost melting out of the shadows, an emotionless look on his face. "Humans are so weak. Everything that they do is to destroy or betray. It's rather sad. That's why the only absolute thing in this world is _power._ You of all people should understand that." He slipped the tome into the folds of his coat. "War does not determine who is right—only who is left. It's rather sad that only those left behind understands that."

Zeref said nothing for several moments, not showing that Hiore's words is getting to him. He then shoved his hands into his pockets, meeting Hiore's eyes fearlessly. "And you of all people should know that your typical fear tactics will _never _work on Sayo and Madara," he said bluntly. "They're _survivors,_ first and foremost, having came from an era where _surviving_ is all that we do." Zeref narrowed his red eyes at Hiore. "And if you want my advice, I'll advise you to stay away from Sayo. Whatever dirty tactics that you use will never work. Sayo will see it coming from a mile away. She will always be one step, two steps, or even three steps ahead of you. She's the best tactician in the world for a reason." He paused, giving Hiore time to digest his words. "I've known Sayo for a long time, and I never saw anyone who went against her come out alive. Never. It is said that Uchiha Madara is the one to be feared. But in actual fact, his _wife_ herself is more dangerous."

Having said his piece, Tatsuyama Zeref then turned to leave the chamber, the ends of his coat swishing against his legs as he did so. Before leaving however, he paused slightly in his step, aware of Hiore's eyes on his person. "Like Madara and myself, she's a survivor. She had always been. No matter what, she'll definitely survive. She always does."

**XXXXXX**

The atmosphere in the village of Konoha is almost…tense, the same in nearly every single village on the continent these days – ninja or civilian.

And with the recent reports and sightings of the 'demons', really, who could blame them? Even a simple venture out to one of the training grounds just outside the village when just a few short years ago is almost as safe as walking into the backyard of one's own home could mean instant death nowadays, as no one knows just when and where the demons might appear.

Hence, ever since the sightings of demons have became a frequent business, the ninjas of chuunin rank and higher have been sent out often to combat the threat of the demons in Fire Country. Also, the number of ninjas that now patrolled the streets of Konoha had increased as a result. Even the number of guards that were stationed at the gates had increased, ready to deliver any news to the Hokage in a moment's notice.

Particularly the ninjas of Jounin rank and even the ANBU—even when they're off-duty. There is an almost _tense_ rigidity to their movements even when they do something as simple as walk down the streets of Konoha, and there is a noticeably increase in the number of weapons that they usually carry. Nearly every single weapon shop in Konoha is at a severe shortage of weapons as a result—for the first time ever since the Third Great Shinobi War. For lack of a better word, the ninja population of Konoha seemed almost jumpy—tensing at the slightest sound that reaches their ears, readying their weapons at the slightest sight of danger, and even a simple stroll down the street will have any ninja watching their back carefully, watching the shadows.

It wasn't just Konoha in this state of unease either, but nearly every single ninja village on the continent, even the civilian villages.

Hence it is why one afternoon could find Hibiki (Hyuuga) Neji, Kaiga (Nara) Shikamaru and Hatake nee Hanesawa (Haruno) Sakura being seated at a teahouse in Konoha, heads bowed and whispering anxiously.

As this is the common sight in most shops and eateries in Konoha these days, the civilians took no notice, but tried hard to not listen into their conversation.

"I don't get it." Sakura was saying. "Things are changing too much and fast for our liking."

"You mean with the demons?" Shikamaru asked, and Sakura nodded.

"That too, and with this Raven's Gate." Neji pointed out. "It seems to me like they're more dangerous than the Akatsuki that we have to deal with back in our time."

Shikamaru almost groaned at that. "Troublesome," he groaned. "The Akatsuki is already troublesome enough back then. And if this Raven's Gate had their cunning and their ability, and not to mention more dangerous, then we're doomed."

Sakura was about to open her mouth to say something when there's a change in the air, and all three Jounins tensed as they sensed a shift in the atmosphere as well as the sudden appearance of someone's chakra, and they readied their weapons. They relaxed however, at the sight of a masked ANBU that appeared before them, decked in full combat gear.

"My apologies." The ANBU apologised, saluting his superiors, particularly Neji who is the Oinin Commander, not that anyone outside of those serving in ANBU and his friends knew that. "But you have an urgent summons from Hokage-sama. Hibiki-taichou, Kaiga-san and Hatake-san, you three are wanted in the Hokage's office immediately."

Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru exchanged quick and worried looks. These days, whenever all three of them were summoned to the Hokage's office at the same time, especially with the high ranks that they each held, it _never_ means good news.

"Let's go." Neji muttered, getting up from his seat and leaving the teahouse quickly. Sakura and Shikamaru followed suit. The latter looked up at the sky even as he followed his two friends towards the Hokage Tower.

It might just be Shikamaru, but the skies looked almost ominous that day, despite the fact that there isn't a cloud to be seen in the sky that day.

'_I got a bad feeling about this.'_ Shikamaru thought wryly.

* * *

Hatake Sakumo, Shimura Danzo, Sarutobi Hizuren, Jiraiya of the Sannin, Senju Tsunade, Katou Dan and Namikaze Kushina were all in the Hokage's office as well, all with worried expressions on their faces, when Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru arrived.

Taking a look at the ninjas currently assembled in the room, the bad feeling that Shikamaru had came back ten fold. It always means bad news whenever Minato assembled all the ninjas holding the topmost ranks in the village in one place at once.

Namikaze Minato looked both worried and concerned, his desk littered with scrolls and papers of all kinds. In fact, no one had been able to see their Hokage's desk for nearly a month now.

With the crisis now hitting all the elemental nations, a war council had been assembled in Konoha, and as such, the trivial stuff like the civilian affairs and even the ones concerning the Academy and the D-rank and C-rank missions have been placed in the hands of a team of senior chuunins.

"Sorry that we're late." Neji apologised even as he closed the door behind him and took his place by Shikamaru's side even as Sakura took her place by her husband's side.

"No. You're right on time." Minato shook his head even as he activated the silencing and privacy jutsu in his office, indicating that this is going to be quite a serious discussion – one that shouldn't reach just about anyone's ears. "I have here reports from our various scouts, and even messages from Suna." He paused for a moment, looking from face to face, a serious expression on his face. "I'll make things clear here: the land of the Dragonfly is no more."

There was deadly silence for several moments as everyone in the room tried to ingest that bit of information.

While not an overly large and powerful country, the land of Dragonfly _is_ powerful in their own right. Specialising in the art of genjutsu, while their ninja village isn't as renowned or powerful as any of the Six Powers, they are well known and respected. It was only a few years after the end of the Third Great Shinobi War when they have signed an alliance with Konoha, not too long after Taki and Suna have signed one with the Leaf Village.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked at last. She has no doubts that Minato is most probably telling the truth, but there is a part of her that doesn't want to believe it. If this is true, then the 'demon invasion' like what everyone is calling it these days, had just claimed their first ninja village casualty.

Minato nodded tiredly before exchanging looks with his wife. "The information came directly from Tsuki two days ago by their fastest eagle-hawk messenger," he informed the room, much to everyone's surprise but Kushina, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hizuren and Danzo, as the latter five have been in a meeting with Minato when the letter had arrived from Tsuki. "And our scouts have just confirmed the information a few hours ago. Even before that, we have heard rumours of the destruction of the land of Dragonfly from Suna and travelling merchants."

"Tsuki asked for our help in making sure that whatever survivors there are from the land of Dragonfly find help and medical attention from Konoha, as both our villages are allies." Kushina added. "A team of Tsuki jounins have been completing a mission in the vicinity of the land of Dragonfly two days ago. They felt something off when they saw smoke and destroyed buildings from where they are, and went to investigate. Tsuki and Suna have been sending whatever people that they could to help the land of Dragonfly for the past two days. But as every single village had been facing the same problems of the shortages of manpower and supplies these days, there isn't much that they could do but advise the survivors to head for Konoha for help."

"Is it…the demons?" Sakumo asked carefully, and Minato nodded tiredly. "In that case, they have claimed the first ninja nation casualty. The land of Dragonfly, while they aren't as renowned and powerful as the Six Powers, they are in no way weak either." He concluded with a frown. "The fact that the demons could completely overwhelm them without giving Dragonfly the chance to signal for help means that they're more dangerous than we'd initially thought."

"That's not all that Tsuki had told us." Minato said wearily, and a sudden tense atmosphere surrounded the office once more. "The Raven's Gate organisation… According to their Intel, they're on the move."

"How much can we trust it, Minato?" Tsunade asked with a frown.

She was there when the civil war had gone down during the early years of Konoha. She knew how dangerous that that organisation are. But Konoha hadn't heard anything of the sort, and Raven's Gate supposedly had some of the most dangerous shinobis on the continent, from what she know, along with that immortal leader of theirs. News of this sort shouldn't be able to escape their ears. And then again, Konoha wasn't even aware of Raven's Gate's revival up until three years ago when Tsuki had filled them in.

"If it's from Tsuki, we can trust it." Surprisingly, it wasn't Minato who had spoken but Jiraiya. The spymaster had a solemn and serious look on his face. "Their spy networks and Intel are the best in the world. There is no way that they would have bad or wrong information. The fact that they're even willing to tell us this much means a lot." The Toad Sage added, and Danzo nodded in agreement.

"Like what Sayo-san had said." Minato had shrugged, not noticing the slight flinches from Neji, Shikamaru and Sakura as he said her name. "This isn't a time when the ninja nations can afford to fight amongst ourselves. We need to stand together just this once, working against a common threat that threatens to end all our existences."

"Normally, I would object to such a suggestion." Danzo said bluntly, and everyone in the room turned towards him with shock. "But just this once, I will say that we have no choice. Not unless all of us want to die before the year is up." He finished, not forgetting what his teacher had told him three years ago, and what information that he'd been receiving so far from his spies.

Hizuren frowned. "How goes the talks with Iwa and Kumo?" he asked Minato, knowing that the young Hokage had been engaging in constant correspondence with the kages of those villages, negotiating for a possible temporary truce and alliance until the demon threat and the threat that is Raven's Gate is over.

"Not good." Minato sighed. "While they are ready to accept the fact that this 'demon invasion' and Raven's Gate is a big threat, they aren't willing to accept Konoha or Suna's help, claiming that they could handle it."

"Are they idiots?" Kushina scowled. "Who cares if we're not allies or even former enemies? We're talking about survival here right now! How many villages have been wiped out from each nation now? _Every single nation_ on this continent had at least ten civilian villages wiped out in the past three years!"

"Be that as it may, but we can't force them to do something that they don't want to." Minato told his wife. The blonde Hokage then sighed again. He found that he had been doing that a lot ever since the whole 'demon invasion' thing had started. "Anyway, I need to send a task force to escort the survivors from Dragonfly to Konoha. Some Tsuki and Suna ninjas have been escorting them part of the way, but they have their own assignments, and I told the kages of those two villages that I will send out our own ninjas to make sure that the people of Dragonfly reaches Konoha safely."

"With your permission, I will like to lead the team." Shikamaru voiced out, much to everyone's surprise. The head tactician of Konoha looked grim and worried. "And I want Sakura and Neji on my team."

Minato nodded. "I was going to ask you to take this mission," he said, scribbling something on the paper in front of him. "Also, I need someone to head to the civilian militia village ten miles from Konoha to check on them…"

**XXXXXX**

Tatsuyama Zeref glanced around, feeling a slight pang in his heart, and a twinge of guilt even as he surveyed the remains of what was once the proud ninja village of Dragonfly.

What was once a lush and bustling village with shops and houses now remained only ashes, with the ashes being scattered by the winds that blew through Zeref's hair. The strong scent of burning could still be smelt in the air, along with a certain smell that Zeref is quite accustomed to by now – the smell of destruction. The hungry flames that have consumed the land of Dragonfly, thus claiming quite a number of lives in the process had long been extinguished by now.

There were even several dead bodies on the ground, several broken and twisted. Flies and carrion birds were already circling close to the corpses that must have been dead for several days by now, eager for their next meal on the dead of Dragonfly.

Zeref felt something churn in his stomach at that. Being the first head of the Tatsuyama, he has a connection with Death that not even he himself understood fully. But the last thing that he wants is to see the dead body of something living—be it human or even animal—being feasted upon without even given a proper burial.

"Just this once," Zeref whispered, holding one hand out and focusing his power, closing his eyes briefly, "I'll send you on your way. I can't give your bodies a proper burial. But what I can do is something close to it."

Right on cue, dark black flames erupted around every single dead body in the vicinity, licking at it and consuming the flesh and bones slowly, thus allowing the particles of ashes to be blown away by the wind.

"_War does not determine who is right—only who is left. It's rather sad that only those left behind understands that."_

"_To be afraid of nothing is to be a fool. To stand up and face your terrors is to be truly brave."_

"_It takes a minute to crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to fall in love with someone. But it takes a lifetime to forget someone."_

"_I told you that I'm afraid of dying, but I think that being left alone in this world is much more painful than death."_

Zeref sighed as he turned to leave. He wasn't sure what he was really expecting when he came here. But it's definitely not to see this. Even as he turned to leave the village, the toe of his boot caught against something just then, and he looked down only to see a small leather bound book half buried beneath some broken and charred planks.

Frowning, Zeref bent down and picked it up. The colour of the leather bound book seems to be originally green, but the colour had long since faded and had became charred by fire. Most of the contents and the pages have similarly been eaten away by the flames that had claimed the lives of the citizens. Only a single line could still be seen on the only page that is legible.

_This is the way that the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper._

Staring at the single line for several moments, Zeref finally let the leather bound book fall to the ground by his feet, watching even as the binding that had already been weakened by the attack weakened even further by the abuse to it, and the pages that made up the book scattered and was blown away by the wind.

"It will soon all begin." Zeref whispered to himself, staring at his right hand and clenching it into a fist slowly. _'Sayo, you must hurry. I've already done all that I could. You must hurry, before the Darkness consumes us all…'_

**XXXXXX**

_He fell to his knees at the sight of her mangled corpse. _

_If truth be told, he knew that he only had himself to blame, for tempting the hearts of those weak fools the way that he did. But at the end of today, they'll be __**dead fools.**_

"_How __**dare**__ you kill my mother—?!"_

* * *

_He saw the flames even before he saw the house. Still covered in blood from the people that had killed his mother, he ran faster than he had never ran before, hoping that he'll make it in time. After all, he knew that his mother would come back, even if it were ten years or even fifty years from now. _

_He has all the time in the world._

_But her. His sister. His beloved sister… _

_Unlike himself and his mother, she is not immortal. And she always had a weak body. Hence why his mother is always trying to find some demon plant to make his sister stronger._

_Unlike his mother, if his sister dies…_

_His eyes went wide as his house at the top of the hill came into sight, and standing outside the burning house with a pleased expression on each of their faces was…_

_His face contorted in both rage and fury, he screamed, "RIE!"_

* * *

_He laid her motionless body down on the ceremonial table, with it being surrounded by flowers of all kinds. She looks so peaceful, almost as if she's simply sleeping._

"_I'll bring you back. I swear." He told his sister's body, almost as if she could still hear him. "I don't care how long it takes me. I'll bring you back, no matter what it takes. You and Mother… You both never did anything wrong. I'm the one that has sinned, and yet, you both are the ones that have to pay the price for it. It isn't fair." He wiped the tears from his eyes. "They'll pay for it. I will never forgive them for this! The world will know my pain, and they will burn from it!"_

_Please… I never wanted any of this… My brother… My big brother… Please help him… Please… Come to me… Please… Help me…_

* * *

Uchiha Seina stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, breathing heavily almost as if she'd just run a marathon. As she turned her head to look at her digital clock, she saw that it was just after three in the morning, and that means that she'd barely gotten four hours of sleep.

Seina almost groaned as she leaned back into her pillows, wishing that she can just go back to sleep, but knew that it was futile, as she felt almost wide awake right now.

'_What is that dream?'_ Seina wondered, staring up at the ceiling above her. _'It felt too real to be a dream. It is almost like…memories. And that boy… He looks almost like…'_ Seina narrowed her eyes even as she recalled the features of the boy in her 'dream'. _'…Toshigaki Hiore.'_

**XXXXXX**

"Sorry, for dragging you both with me even though you're so busy." Seina apologised even as she led the way through a winding path in the mountain. Honestly, Seina has no idea how she even _knew_ where she's going. She just does.

"Well, we both need a breath of fresh air." Sayo told Seina. "And furthermore, the way that you described those 'dreams' of yours bothers me." She frowned. "If I have to put it into words, it sounds almost like foreseeing dreams. There are some people with that ability back in our time. But in your case, it is almost like you're seeing the past."

"You know, now that you mention it, it does seem that way to me." Seina admitted. "I think that's it." She spied a gray door by the side of the mountain, almost hidden by ivy and plants and even creepers. It is so well hidden that she could have missed it entirely if she hadn't been looking for it.

"Seems like no one has been here for some time." Madara remarked even as the three of them approached the door. "And honestly, if Seina hadn't told us about this place, we wouldn't even know that this mountain existed."

"I've actually heard rumours about it during the shinobi clan wars." Sayo admitted even as Seina tried to find a way to open the door. "From what I've heard, this mountain was originally used by onmyoujis and even mediums in training. Remember that back then, things like demons and spirits are a common issue. Hence, the people of their trade are pretty much in demand. They often came to this mountain to train."

"Well, I was never really a believer or very interested in things like this, hence, I don't really listen whenever you and Father talked about it." Madara admitted.

It is true that things like demons and spirits have been a common thing during the time of the shinobi clan wars, and several civilians, usually the feudal lords or daimyos often have problems with possession or even hauntings. Hence why the Daimyo's Court had often appointed a royal onmyouji.

The ninjas have never really placed much faith in things like that, though they do respect the onmyoujis and exorcists for their work and vice-versa. As ninjas are usually spiritually strong thanks to their usage of chakra, there is no danger of them being possessed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sayo huffed, annoyed.

Seina called out to them both just then. "Hey, can you both give me a hand here? This door is stuck or something. I can't get it to open." She grunted, struggling with the door. But no matter how much she pushed, she simply can't get it to open.

"Let's see." Madara approached the door, and Seina stepped aside to give him room.

The Uchiha frowned as he felt the door beneath his fingertips. The material that this door is made from doesn't seem to be that of anything that he'd ever seen before. He then scanned the door up and down several times before his sharp eyes caught sight of a small design carved into the side of the door, almost hidden by the ivy that had grown over it. Pushing the ivy aside, his eyes widened a slight fraction as he saw that it seems to be some sort of seal, but not one that he had ever seen before.

"Sayo, can you take a look at this?" Madara called his wife over. "Is that some sort of seal?"

"Where?" Sayo approached her husband, and he pointed out the seal that he could see. The redhead frowned as she studied the design for several moments without saying anything before she turned towards her husband and her best friend. "It seems to be a lock seal – one that was commonly used for top secretive places. We used those too for some of the rooms in the Tsukikage Tower like the Archives and such."

Madara and Seina both nodded. There are certain rooms in the Tsukikage Tower that have special locking seals placed on it that only allows certain selected individuals access, as their chakra is keyed into those seals.

Rooms like the Archives or even the Records Room, as those are places where they have stored all their files on their ninjas, past and present, and even records of jutsu, seals and techniques, and even on the individual clans in the village. There were even records on foreign ninjas and other villages stored in those rooms. Hence, access to those rooms is highly restricted, and only a selected few outside of Madara, Sayo and Seina have access to those rooms.

Sayo then frowned as she turned to look back at the seal. "But I've never seen a design like this before," she admitted. "Probably, like most sealing seals, it has the same mechanism. It probably only responds to the chakra and the blood of the person who'd placed it here. That's probably why we can't open the door."

"Can't you bypass it?" Seina asked curiously. She knew how good Sayo is with seals, since she'd created nearly every single seal that is in existence now.

"Well, I can try. But as I'm not sure if there are any other seals that have been placed behind this door as a self-defense mechanism, I'm not sure what will happen." Sayo warned before she unsealed a blank scroll and a brush from one of the storage seals on her arm and set to work.

Seina and Madara watched in silence even as Sayo drew several designs on the blank scroll, drawing a seal of some sort before she placed it against the door. After a moment, the seal on the door as well as the seal on the scroll glowed before there is a loud click, and the door then swung opened slightly.

"Well, let's go in." Seina said after several moments of silence.

Madara was the first one to enter, wary of any enemy that might be lying in wait for them. Not that he thinks that Sayo and Seina can't handle themselves. It's just in his nature to protect the two women the way that he and Izuna have always done ever since they're kids.

To his surprise, the inside seems to be some sort of chamber, and it isn't dark or even dusty in the least. He has no idea where the light source seems to be coming from, but upon closer examination, the walls seem to be almost glowing with a pale silver light, hence giving them some visibility.

There were even flowerpots laid by the sides, and the flowers don't seem to be dying anytime soon, despite it being obvious just from the door that they have just stepped through that no one has been here for a long time.

And at the end of this chamber is a stone ceremonial table with flowers scattered over it. The body of a young female girl is lying on it, looking as if she's merely sleeping.

Seina let out a gasp as she laid eyes on this girl. "I saw her in my dream," she said. She studied the girl for several moments. She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen with sleek black hair and pale skin. She looks extremely beautiful, and yet also vulnerable, also dressed in clothes that Seina doesn't recognise in the least, as it doesn't seem to be that of clothes that she had ever seen before.

For a moment, the three ninjas stood in silence, staring down at the body of the young girl in front of them.

"What's this?" Sayo murmured, finally noticing the brown leather bound book by the side of the ceremonial table and picking it up. The pages have already yellowed with age, and some of the pages have even stuck together, but Sayo managed to open it, and both Madara and Seina read it over her shoulder.

It seems to be some sort of journal kept by someone a long time ago, and the writing was cursive and elegant, reminding all three Uchihas of the writing of nobles. Sayo read the first entry out loud.

"'Humans' hearts are so weak. I find that rather sad, and yet amusing at the same time. So pitiful. They have short life spans, compared to the life spans of demons and such, yet why do they treasure life so much and act the way they did? They're confusing. For humans, the only certainty that they have in life is Death. So why fear the inevitable? Probably, it is because demons or half-demons like myself live such long lives that we take life lightly. But to the humans who have short life spans, it is probably that they have such short lives that they live to the fullest each and every day. But as I watch Rie, I can at least hope to understand a little of why they treasure each and every day, and act the way that they did'."

The three Uchihas exchanged looks. "It seems to be the journal of Toshigaki Hiore." Sayo said at last, and Madara nodded. "So this girl…" She glanced at the girl in front of them. "She must be Rie." She glanced at Madara and Seina. "He doesn't sound so bad in here. Hiore, that is. And it seems to be written a long time ago. Even way before our time."

Seina sighed and rubbed her temples. "You know, the more that we know about Raven's Gate and Hiore, the less it makes sense," she complained, and Madara grinned.

Sayo failed to contain her amusement either even as she turned over the first page of the journal carefully, as the journal is so old that it is almost falling apart in her hands. "'Humans are weak. That's what Mother said, and she is right. Yet for some reason that escapes my understanding, she seems so interested in them, and maybe even fond of them. Probably, that is why she even mated with Father and had me and Rie. But while I'm born with Mother's vitality and strength and even her immortality, Rie wasn't so lucky. She was born human, with a human's life span and body. Unfortunately, that means that she's also born with a weak body. Rie has been weak since birth. That's why Mother chose to lives in the forest in search of plants and ways to make Rie stronger. I respected that. Until those dead fools killed Mother just because of some dumb legend that states that eating her heart will make them immortal. And as if that isn't enough, they killed Rie just because of the rumours of the 'demon children'. They burned our house when I was out on one of my visits to Mother, burning the house down with Rie still inside! I will never forgive them! The world will know my pain, and they will burn from it!'"

Eyes wide, the three Uchihas stared at each other in silence for almost a full minute. They could understand a bit of how Hiore must feel. At least, Madara and Sayo could, as they have almost lost everyone that they've ever cared for at one time, only having each other for support.

"There's more." Sayo said quickly, turning over another page. She realised that this might just be what they're searching for in order to understand Hiore's mindset and his motives in doing what he did.

If truth be told, they have never tried to understand why Hiore is doing what he did. They have just made the mistaken assumption that he's evil, plain and simple. And just like everyone, Sayo had made the mistake of assuming that Hiore had always been that – plain evil, just because he's the son of a demon. Even the worst of villains have reasons as to why they acted the way they did. Despite the fact that Hiore is Kyuubi's son, and thus a half-demon, he is also half-human.

"'To be afraid of nothing is to be a fool. To stand up and face your terrors is to be truly brave. Rie told me that once. She once told me that she's afraid of dying, but that being left alone in this world is much more painful than death. Why is it, I wonder? I don't even understand it myself. I wonder just what is it that drives me so? Why do I want to protect Rie so much? My only sister. She's different from me. She hasn't sinned. I am the one who had sinned. Yet the one to pay for my sins had to be my innocent sister and mother. I swore to myself that I would bring Rie back. I _will_ revive her, no matter what it takes. No matter how long it will take me, I will bring her back.'" Sayo finished the journal entry. "That's the last one." She looked at Madara and Seina.

"So that's why…" Madara murmured, looking at Rie. He can understand a bit of how Hiore must feel. If Sayo had been the one to die, he would do anything possible in order to bring his beloved back. He was silent for several moments, simply staring at the face of Rie. He wonders if she knew what her brother had done in order to revive her. Will she be horrified that her beloved brother is now nothing more than a monster in the eyes of the world, stooping at nothing in order to achieve his goals? "Seina, can you—"

"No, I couldn't." Seina knew what Madara is going to say before he'd even opened his mouth. She looked solemn even as she eyed Rie. "Not even I could revive the dead." She closed her eyes briefly. "There is nothing in this world that can bring the dead back to life. Nothing. You and Sayo both understand this more than anyone else."

"At the very least, heal her body." Sayo said, speaking what is on Madara's mind even as she looked at Rie. "Let her rest in peace."

"Okay." Seina let her hands glow with chakra as she ran it over Rie's body. When she took it away, Rie's body looked a lot better than she just did awhile ago. _'Is this why you've called us here? To understand your brother?'_ she wondered.

"It's almost sad when you think about it." Madara said suddenly. "He's rather similar to myself. Back when Izuna died, I tried researching ways to bring him back. But when I realised that a true Resurrection technique is impossible, I gave up. I wasn't willing to desecrate the dead in order to revive Izuna. But Hiore… He wasn't willing to give up. Possibly, if the tables are turned… If it had been Sayo, I would have done the same thing that he did." He admitted.

"He's just chasing after a fool's dream." Sayo stated. "There is no way to revive the dead. None whatsoever. The most that will happen is to bring them back as a living corpse." She was silent for several moments. "To die for a mission, that is the life of a ninja." She said at last. "But I wonder… Just how true it is?"

"Sayo…" Seina murmured.

"Let's go." Madara said, turning away. "We got a lot to think about."

Seina nodded and followed him. Sayo was about to follow, but something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning, she then noticed something that she hadn't noticed right from the start. A slip of paper was half-buried in the flowerbed that Rie was lying on, with just the edge of the paper vaguely visible. It wouldn't be noticeable if you hadn't been paying close attention.

Frowning to herself, Sayo took the slip of paper and unfolded it, her eyes scanning down the various lines that were scribbled on it. Just like with the journal, the paper seems extremely old and seems to be made of material that is not familiar to Sayo.

_I swear, Rie. I swear to you that I will find a way to revive you, no matter what it takes. I do not care even if I have to sell my soul to the Devil himself. That man told me so. He said that it's possible. He told me that there is a way. As long as I attain the power of the strongest tailed beast, the Juubi, and initiate the Moon Eye plan…_

"Damn it…" Sayo cursed lowly to herself, closing her eyes momentarily before opening them again. She looked at the serene expression of the girl lying in front of her. The younger sister of their mortal enemy. "Is this what you're trying to tell us?" She murmured, but she received no answer. _'He is being controlled by someone too. I guess it's true what they say. You can be the most powerful man in the world. But you can't defy the wheels of Nature. You can't cheat Death.'_ "I'll stop your brother. I swear it. That's why… You don't have to be worried anymore. Rest in peace."

Sayo then turned to leave the chamber. Before she had even taken more than three steps however, the redhead could have sworn that she heard a whisper echo itself by her ear, sounding almost windy or willowy-like.

_Thank you._

Sayo stopped in her tracks, closing her eyes momentarily. _'Have you lost your path too? Have you lost sight of what you've believed in, Toshigaki Hiore?'_ Sayo wondered even as she exited the chamber where Seina and Madara are waiting for her, with the door closing itself behind her. _'There is nothing more fearsome for a ninja or even a human then to lose sight of the path that they've believed in. Like what I've promised your sister, and like what I've promised someone else once, I'll bring you back to your path. No matter what it takes. If I have to kill you in order to achieve that, then so be it.'_

_It lies in wait at every road, no matter which path you take._

_People are born, they live, and then die. Similar to that of a straight line, people have no choice but to follow it. And they are then left to live their lives knowing that the end is inevitable – that the only thing truly certain in this world is __**Death.**_

_Sometimes, Death is the easy way out. Sometimes, it is the only escape. Death is cruel, feared by many, and sometimes __**yearned**__ by many. And yet, there are people still eager to close their eyes at night, hoping that they will one day be able to open them in the morning._

_Such people are rare._

_Humans are indeed confusing._

_They fear Death above all else, and yet, at the same time, they also yearn for it._

**XXXXXX**

"Well? What is your answer?" Kakuzu smirked the moment that he spied the form of the young Uchiha boy approaching him. If truth be told however, he knew what Uchiha Itachi's answer would be.

Itachi was silent for several moments before he met Kakuzu's eyes with his own fearlessly. "I'll help you," he said at last. "But in exchange, leave Tsuki alone."

Kakuzu smirked to himself, though he had no intention of keeping that promise. They are ninjas after all. And all ninjas are good at deceit and betrayal. The young man before him should know this better than anyone else, since he had been a victim of such a way of life.

"Consider it done."

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_A/N: Please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!_


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